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8 L C H S A R E 

TRAGEDIA 

D'OUANDO PESCETTI 

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I N V E R O N A , 

KcllaSr.ampan.i diCirolamo Difccpolo 

M D XCIHI. 



A PROBABLE ITALIAN SOURCE 



OF 



SHAKESPEARE'S "JULIUS CESAR" 



BY 



ALEXANDER BOECKER, Ph.D. 

INSTRUCTOR IN THE MANUAL TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 



Submitted to the Faculty of New York University in 

Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for 

the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 



NEW YORK 
1913 






Press of 

The new Era printing company 

Lancaster. Pa 



" ity 



PREFACE 

This monograph was submitted to the Faculty of New 
York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements 
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and was accepted 
by them in May, 1912. Its composition was prompted chiefly 
by a desire to call attention to the long forgotten work of 
Orlando Pescetti, because it is at least an open question 
whether Shakespeare derived from the "Cesare" of the 
Italian dramatist many hints which he later used in his own 
"Julius Caesar." Pescetti's drama seems to have been 
entirely overlooked as a possible source, although the many 
striking similarities to Shakespeare's tragedy render it well 
worth investigating. I believe that the present work is 
the first attempt to demonstrate the possible relation between 
the two dramas. 

"Cesare" seems to be the only play on the subject which 
has not been exhaustively examined. The only notices in 
English with which I am acquainted appeared in letters 
published in the Nation, June 2 and 9, 1910, while this work 
was in process of preparation. The first, by Miss Lisi Cipriano, 
called attention to some marked similarities in expression 
and treatment between the two dramas. In reply, two 
letters appeared the following week: one from Professor 
Harry Morgan Ayres of Columbia University, the other 
from Professor Henry N. McCracken of Yale. Neither 
seemed to regard the parallels cited by Miss Cipriano as 
indicative of direct borrowing on the part of Shakespeare. 
Professor Ayres had previously in the June, 1910, number of 
the "American Modern Language Association Publications " 
been the first to make any mention of Pescetti in relation 
to Shakespeare. In his article, "Shakespeare's Julius Caesar 
in the Light of Some other Versions, " he called attention to 
some parallels, without, however, attaching to them any 
particular significance. 

The above writers seem, however, to have missed the 
really vital points of contact between the two dramas. These, 
I trust, will become sufficiently evident in the following pages. 



IV 

Pescetti has been no more fortunate in his Continental 
critics. The mere mention of his name from Tiraboschi on 
is all one finds till Emilio Bertana, in his "La tragedia" 
(1904), gives a brief analysis and critique of the play. Fer- 
dinando Neri, in his "La tragedia italiana nel Cinquecento" 
(1904) has a brief mention, but none of his countrymen have 
ever discussed Pescetti 's drama as a possible Shakespearean 
source. It seems unknown to French and German critics. 

Owing to the absence in America of material bearing upon 
Pescetti, I was compelled to base my study upon a very 
carefully executed transcript of the 1594 edition of "Cesare" 
now in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale of Florence. 
Through the courtesy of Professor Ayres, I have been enabled 
carefully to check all quotations by reference to his own 
copy of the 1594 edition. The references to "Julius Caesar" 
are to the Globe Edition. The copy of Lydgate referred to 
is in the Library of Columbia University, while the quota- 
tions from Ovid are taken from Golding's 1575 translation 
in the Yale University Library. To the latter I am also 
indebted for the extracts from the 1578 translation of Appian- 
The references to Plutarch are to Professor Skeats' edition. 

To Mr. Emilio Bruschi of Florence I am indebted for his 
careful transcriptions of documents, and to Professor Salomone 
Morpurgo, the head librarian of the Biblioteca Nazionale, 
for his courtesy in putting the available material contained 
therein at my disposal. To Professor Harry Morgan Ayres 
I wish to express my thanks for permitting me to use his 
copy of "Cesare." To Professor Theodore F. Jones and 
Mr. Arthur H. Nason of New York University I owe many 
valuable suggestions regarding the arrangement of subject 
matter. My many obligations to Professor M. W. MacCal- 
lum's "Shakespeare's Roman Plays and their Background," 
and to Professor F. H. Sykes' edition of "Julius Caesar" 
are in evidence throughout. 

I am above all indebted to my colleague, Dr. Edoardo 
San Giovanni, for his kind help and encouragement, without 
which this work would probably never have been consum- 
mated. 

Alexander Boecker. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 
Introduction I 

Purpose of Thesis — The Prologue of "Cesare" — Synopsis of its Plot 
— Its Senecan Characteristics — The Dramatis Personae — Persons Com- 
mon to both " Cesare " and "Julius Caesar" — The Relation of " Cesare " 
to its Predecessors — Contemporary Notice by Beni — The Material 
derived from Classical Sources used by both Shakespeare and Pes- 
cetti — Appian, Pescetti's Main Source — Pescetti the Source of the 
Historical Matter in "Julius Caesar" not traceable to Plutarch. 

CHAPTER II 

The Influence of Appian 12 

Passages in Shakespeare traceable to Appian — The Parallel Passages 
in Pescetti — The Speech of Brutus and the Oration of Antony with 
the Parallels in the Fifth Act of Pescetti — The Exclamations of the Mob 
in both Dramas — The Behavior of the Conspirators immediately after 
the Murder. 

CHAPTER III 

The Handling of the Supernatural Element 25 

The Parallelism in General Treatment — The Use of Ghosts — The Por- 
tents and Prodigies — Parallels. 

CHAPTER IV 

The Brutus-Cassius Scenes 41 

The Brutus-Cassius Scenes — The Debate Concerning Antony — Details 
peculiar to both Pescetti and Shakespeare — Comparison with Muretus 
and Grevin — Similarity in the Sequence of Scenes following the Debate 
— The Lena-Caesar Episode — The Parallel Use of Suspense. 

CHAPTER V 
The Character of Caesar 57 

Peculiarities of Shakespeare's Delineation — The Influence of Medieval 
Conception of the Character — Pescetti's Treatment — His Appreciation 



VI 

of Caesar's Nobler Qualities — Their Submergence in the Action and his 
Emphasis of Caesar's Weaknesses — Caesar's Susceptibility to Flat- 
tery, his Pride, his Boastfulness, his Vacillation — Reasons for 
Pescetti's Delineation — The Parallels in Shakespeare's Treatment 
— Caesar's Relative Inferiority in the Action — His Spiritual Domina- 
tion of the Tragedy. 

CHAPTER VI 
The Character of Brutus 76 

The Moral Elevation of the Hero, and the Reason therefor — 
Parallel in Content in a Brutus-Cassius Scene — Brutus as a Leader — 
Pescetti's Conception of the Character — Brutus' Lack of Foresight — 
His Sense of the Justice of his Cause — Lack of Definite Causes of 
Resentment against Caesar — Parallelism to Shakespeare. 

CHAPTER VII 
The Other Characters 96 

Antony — Pescetti's Conception — Parallels in Shakespeare — The Bru- 
tus-Portia Scenes — Their Historical and Critical Importance — Pescetti's 
Delineation of Portia — Her Place in the Action — Details Common 
only to Pescetti and Shakespeare — Calpurnia — Striking Parallel be- 
tween one of her Speeches and one by Cassius in Shakespeare — The 
Remaining Characters. 

CHAPTER VIII 
" Cesare " in England no 

Pescetti's Work known in England — Probable use by Sir William Alex- 
ander in the Composition of "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" — The 
Evidence — Parallels between "Cesare" and Alexander's Work- 
Shakespeare's Knowledge of the Work — The Two Part Nature of 
"Julius Caesar" — Jonson's assumed Collaboration — Shakespeare and 
Italian. 

CHAPTER IX 
Conclusion 121 

Pescetti's Drama an Improvement on its Senecan Predecessors — Its 
Particular Value to the Literary Historian — Summary of the Argument 
— Conclusion. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 126 



INTRODUCTION 

I intend in this monograph to demonstrate the probability 
of Shakespeare's indebtedness in the composition of the 
first three acts of his "Julius Caesar," to the "Cesare" of 
Orlando Pescetti, an Italian tragedy on the same theme, 
first published at Verona in 1594.* 

This connection has never yet been demonstrated. The 
work seems almost totally unknown to the English literary 
world. f Shakespearean criticism, eager to investigate the 
smallest matters in regard to the great poet, is silent on 
Pescetti. I know of no French or German J references. In 
Italy, Pescetti has received scant notice; few writers have 
so much as mentioned "Cesare," while not one has made any 
suggestion as to a possible connection between this play and 
"Julius Caesar."§ 

* A second edition followed in 1604 from the same press (Girolamo Dis- 
cepolo) in 4 . 

This is exceedingly rare; the only copy which I have traced is in the Bib- 
lioteca Marciana in Venice. I use the 1594 text, following the copy in the 
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale at Florence. 

t The only reference in English with which I am acquainted is by Harry 
Morgan Ayres in the June, 1910, number of the Proceedings of the Am. Modern 
Language Association. In his article, "Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in the 
Light of some other Versions" he makes a brief mention of this play. But 
see Preface. 

t A careful search of the forty volumes of Jahrbucher, published by the 
"Deutsche Shakespeare Gesellschaft", failed to reveal any mention of Pes- 
cetti. A search of the registers of the very complete collection of German 
literary periodicals contained in the library of New York University was 
equally unproductive. 

§ For a brief sketch of Pescetti see G. B. Gerini, Gli scrittori pedagogici 
italiani nel secolo decimo settimo. 1900. In addition to the above the fol- 
lowing are the only works known to me which mention Pescetti's "Cesare": 

Fonte, Michelangelo, [Paolo Beni], II Cavalcanti, 1614. 

Quadrio, Fr. Saverio, Delia storia e della ragione d'ogni poesia, 1739. 

Fontanini, Giusto, Biblioteca dell'eloquenza italiana con le annotazioni 
del Sig. Apostolo Zeno, 1753. 

Allaci, Leone, Drammaturgia, 1755. 



Vlll 

The inscription upon the title page of the 1594 edition is 
as follows : 

II Cesare 

Tragedia 

d'Orlando Pescetti 

Dedicata 

al Sereniss. Principe 

Donno Alfonso II. d'Este 

Duca di Ferrara, etc. 

(Device) 

In Verona 

Nella stamparia di Girolamo Discepolo 

MDXCIIII 

Pescetti 's work is in quarto, and consists of six pages of 
dedicatory matter, and one hundred and fifty pages of verse, 
for the most part hendecasyllabic varied with septenarians. " 
In the tragedy proper there are nearly four thousand lines. 

The author in his dedication establishes, to his own satis- 
faction at least, the descent of the family of Este from the 
mighty Julius, and ventures the belief that Brutus and Cassius, 
though they could not abide Caesar's rule, would rejoice in 
Alfonso's. At the end of several pages of this sort of flattery 
we read: "Di Verona il di 19 di Febraio 1594. Di V.A.S. 
Divotiss. et umiliss. Servitore Orlando Pescetti." 

Tiraboschi, Girolamo, Storia della letteratura italiana, 1822. 

Ginguene, P. L., Histoire Litteraire d'ltalie, 1824. 

De Sanctis, Natale, G. Cesare e M. Bruto nei poeti tragici, 1895. 

Salvioli, Bibliografia universale del teatro drammatico italiano, 1903. 

Bertana, Emilio, La tragedia, 1904. 

Neri, Ferdinando, La tragedia italiana nel Cinquecento, 1904. 

Flamini, Francesco, A History of Italian Literature. Translated by Evan- 
geline O'Connor, 1907. 

Of the above only Bertana has more than a brief mention. He alone attempts 
an analysis of the play. 



THE PLOT OF "CESARE" 

The following is a list of the persons in the drama, called 
by Pescetti, " Interlocutori." 

Marte ~) 

Venere V Fanno il Prologo 

Giove J 

Bruto 

Cassio 

Sacerdote 

Porzia moglie di Bruto 

Calpurnia moglie di Cesare 

Cameriera di Calpurnia 

Cesare 

Marc'Antonio Consolo 

Decimo Bruto 

Lenate 

Messo Primo 

Messo Secundo 

Coro di Matrone Romane 

Coro di Donne di Corte 

Coro di Cittadini 

Coro di Soldati 

The tragedy proper is preceded by a prologue in which 
Mars, Venus, and Jove are the actors. Pescetti, probably 
following Ovid's account in Book XV. of the "Metamor- 
phoses," represents Venus as bewailing the destined death of 
Caesar, the last of her earthly descendants. Mars extends 
his consolation and proffers his aid. She informs him that 
Jove is responsible, and indulges in a denunciation of the 
Thunderer that must have made his celestial ears tingle. 
All further discussion of the matter is terminated by the 
appearance of the Father of the gods, who reproves Venus 
for her blasphemous utterances, assures her that his ways are 
inscrutable, and consoles her by promising Caesar immortality 



among the gods, and the infliction of dire punishment upon 
his assassins. Venus bows to his will, and impatient Mars 
hurries at Jove's command to sow the seeds of civil strife 
throughout the Roman world. 

This Prologue is a literary curiosity. Its style is at times 
more reminiscent of the madrigal than of tragedy, while the 
very earthly flavor which clings to the celestial personages is 
decidedly humorous to the modern reader. Pescetti un- 
doubtedly was in grim earnest when he wrote the Prologue, 
but many of the sentences he puts in the mouths of his im- 
mortals must have made Melpomene smile. The admonition 
of Venus to Mars on omniscient Jove's approach, "Ma e' vien 
ver noi, tacciam, ch'egli non ci oda," despite its Renaissance 
setting, is delightful for its sheer absurdity. 

The tragedy follows immediately after this prologue. In 
view of the extreme length of Pescetti 's work and the lack 
of interest for our purpose in many of the speeches, I have 
thought it advisable not to inflict upon the reader an extended 
synopsis of the plot, but to confine my efforts to the following 
outline of the story. 

Act I 

The scene is not stated, but is evidently, throughout the 
play, an open space before a temple in the vicinity of Caesar's 
house. The time is just before dawn. Brutus is discovered 
apostrophizing the shade of Pompey. He vows to deliver 
Rome from the tyrant. Cassius overhears him, and commends 
this resolution. Brutus relates how the ghost of Pompey 
had appeared to him during the past night and commanded 
him to restore the ancient liberties. Together, they enter 
the temple to pray for the success of their enterprise. The 
Priest now appears, deplores the prevalent irreligion, urges 
the observance of the ancient rites, and then goes to prepare 
the sacrifice commanded by the Dictator. Brutus and 
Cassius reappear and discuss their plans. Cassius strongly 
favors the killing of Antony along with Caesar. This Brutus 
will not tolerate, in spite of the many forceful arguments of 
his fellow conspirator. He abruptly terminates the discussion 



by detailing the manner of Caesar's murder. As he concludes, 
Portia enters in search of Brutus. She deplores that her sex 
prevents her taking an active part in the conspiracy. She 
begs to be favored with their confidence. Cassius hesitates, 
but finally divulges their plans, and beseeches her to aid the 
enterprise with her prayers. This, rather reluctantly, she 
promises. Brutus, who has taken no part in this conversation, 
now bursts into an ecstatic speech wherein, in imagination, 
he already hears the rejoicing which the news of the tyrant's 
death will cause among Rome's noblest families. He advises 
Portia to return home while he and Cassius go to join the other 
conspirators. Portia invokes the blessing of Heaven on them, 
and the act concludes as the Chorus of Matrons implores 
the intercession of Romulus to restore to the city its former 
peace and happiness. 

Act II 

Calpurnia and her nurse indulge in the inevitable lengthy 
and tiresome discussion concerning the former's terrible 
dream. The ghost of Caesar, horrible with wounds, had 
appeared to her that night. Almost half the act is devoted 
to Calpurnia's expression of grief and to her nurse's fruitless 
efforts at consolation. The Chorus declaims the fickleness 
of mankind, whereupon Brutus and Portia reappear. The 
former, believing that his wife has wounded herself in some 
domestic labor, reproves her for turning her hands to such 
work. She tells him that she has wounded herself to prove 
that she could commit suicide were her death necessary. She 
fears that her husband may perish in his attempt against 
Caesar and has resolved to restrain him. This dialogue, 
filled with mutual protestations of love and constancy, is 
terminated by the appearance of Calpurnia, whose perturbed 
countenance prompts them to overhear her. Calpurnia, in a 
long and tiresome speech, condemns the desire of men for 
dominion over others as the cause of all their sufferings. The 
nurse interjects the usual advice and consolation. Calpurnia 
voices her determination to persuade Caesar to abandon his 
contemplated visit to the Senate. Brutus petitions Jove to 



steel the tyrant's heart to the appeals of his wife. Portia 
retires to pray for her husband's success, while he goes to 
rejoin Cassius and the others in the plot. The Chorus sings 
the mutability of human happiness, and the act ends. 

Act III 

Caesar and Antony indulge in a lengthy dialogue which is 
started by the observations of the former regarding the banquet 
at the house of Lepidus the preceding evening. Caesar, ably 
seconded by Antony, enlarges upon his glories. His compan- 
ion warns him against treachery, and advises a bodyguard. 
Caesar scorns those who would harm him, but resolves after 
this day to be surrounded by some of his trusty veterans. 
He orders Antony to prepare for the Parthian campaign. 
Here follows a soliloquy by Antony, in which, in contrast to 
Calpurnia, he exalts the pleasures of rulership. He intends 
so to contrive that in the event of Caesar's death he can seize 
the reins of government. Hereupon the Priest in the longest 
speech in the play recites the many and various portents 
which have lately occurred. As he concludes, Caesar and 
Calpurnia join him, and another long scene ensues in which 
Caesar stands firm against all the arguments brought forward 
to dissuade him. He is resolved to go to the Senate, and the 
scene is brought to an end by a final warning from the Priest. 
The Chorus sings the direful results following the disregard 
of religion. 

Act IV 

Brutus and Cassius discuss the probability of a detection of 
their plot. It seems that Lenate, evidently not of their 
number, had approached Brutus and whispered his good 
wishes for the success of their enterprise. Brutus and Cassius 
engage in a dialogue concerning liberty, but are interrupted 
by the appearance of Decimus Brutus, who laments the per- 
versity of fortune. It seems that Caesar has yielded to Cal- 
purnia's entreaties and will stay at home. Worse still, on 
the morrow he will appear with his bodyguard. Marcus 
Brutus feels that Jove will yet favor their designs. Caesar 



enters and condemns those as fools who are guided by the 
advice of women. Nevertheless, as he fears treachery, he 
has resolved to heed the entreaties of his wife. He indulges 
in a panegyric of himself. The conspirators now approach, 
and Marcus Brutus addresses him, inquiring his reasons for 
not attending the important session of the Senate. Caesar 
is in doubt as to the manner of his reply. The prayers of his 
wife, he asserts, have influenced him. Besides, he has reason 
to fear treachery. Decimus Brutus, by artfully playing on 
his vanity, succeeds in overcoming his doubts. Caesar 
resolves to attend the Senate. Marcus Brutus can hardly 
find words fit to sing the praises of Jove, who has inspired 
this determination in the tyrant's heart. The conspirators 
indulge in pious prayers and felicitations. Caesar, Cal- 
purnia and Decimus Brutus are the persons in the next 
scene. Caesar tells Calpurnia that her entreaties are vain; 
now, as formerly, the gods will protect him. She bows to 
his will. Decimus, in another useless speech, continues 
his laudation of Caesar and the belittlement of his fears. 
Caesar at length starts for the Senate. He is detained by 
Lenate who addresses him, to the great consternation of the 
conspirators, who fear the revelation of their plot. Lenate 
begs a favor of Caesar, which the latter is disposed to grant. 
The increasing panic of the conspirators is stayed by Brutus, 
who has watched Lenate and feels confident that he is not 
talking of the plot. At the conclusion of Lenate's address 
Caesar departs for the Senate, and Lenate joins the conspir- 
ators and assures them of his silence. In the concluding 
scene Calpurnia breaks into lamentations while the Chorus 
of Ladies of the Court comments upon her distress and be- 
seeches Juno to turn aside her wrath and spare Caesar. 

Act V 

Brutus addresses the citizens and announces the death of 
the tyrant. He calls on all to rejoice in their reestablished 
freedom, while the conspirators shout the glad tidings. This 
is his last appearance. The rest of the act is devoted to the 



lamentations of Calpurnia, the report of the catastrophe by 
the First and the Second Messenger, and the comments of the 
various Choruses. 

Pescetti's tragedy, as will readily be seen from this state- 
ment of its plot, is thoroughly Senecan in its construction and 
perpetuates some of the worst faults of its type. The dra- 
matic unities are strictly observed ; there are the same lengthy 
speeches, the same moralizing, the same absence of action 
evolved before the spectator, the same lack of life charac- 
teristic of this dramatic form. The actors soliloquize, con- 
verse, declaim, listen; they do everything but act. Their 
exits and their entrances constitute the total of visible 
action. Deeds are carefully excluded, or relegated beyond 
the stage; the declamatory powers of messengers, the com- 
ments of the Chorus, and the speeches and conduct of the 
actors are relied upon to vitalize them in the imagination of 
the audience. 

Of characterization, in the Shakespearean sense, there is 
very little. It would be easy to dismiss the whole matter. 
A careful search is necessary to locate those passages wherein 
Pescetti displays any decided flashes of dramatic power in 
his characterizations. Yet there are times when he attempts, 
and in a measure successfully, to provide adequate motivation 
for the speeches of his characters; but unfortunately, these 
are rather few and far between. He almost invariably 
locates these places in such a rank rhetorical jungle that it 
requires considerable care to discover them. Yet he reveals 
at times a true dramatic instinct in his choice of material and 
in the handling of certain situations.* 

But the force of convention was too strong for him success- 
fully to resist its insidious influences. Following in the 
footsteps of his contemporaries, he spins his drama out to 
some four thousand lines, ninety-nine percent of which are 
versified prose and the remainder dubiously poetic. Never- 

* In parts of the Brutus-Cassius dialogue in the first act; in his attempted 
contrast of Calpurnia and Portia; in his inclusion of the portents; and above 
all, in the scene wherein Lenate addresses Caesar, and the ensuing panic among 
the conspirators. 



theless, compared with the crudities of Giraldi (Cinthio), or 
the revolting horrors of Sperone and Cresci, Pescetti's work 
marks an advance in Italian drama. 

The dramatis personae common both to Shakespeare and 
Pescetti are Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Marcus Brutus, Cas- 
sius, Decius Brutus, Popilius Lena, Calpurnia and Portia. 
Pescetti calls Decius, Decimo, and Popilius Lena, Lenate. In 
addition, the Italian mentions incidentally Casca, Cimber, Tre- 
bonius and Cicero. Of the others occurring in Shakespeare, 
there is no trace. Pescetti, however, introduces two new charac- 
ters : the Servant or Nurse to Calpurnia and the Priest. The 
former is one of the traditional figures of the Senecan drama, 
while the latter performs at various times the functions of 
monitor, mediator and chorus. From non-Plutarchian sources 
the Italian obtained the names Spurinna and Bucolianus, which 
occur in the First Messenger's recital of the assassination. 
The first he doubtless owes to Suetonius, while the second he 
obtained from Appian's account of Caesar's murder. In 
obedience to the formal demand of his drama, Pescetti has 
the first and second Messenger, the Choruses of Roman Mat- 
rons (probably suggested by Lucan),* of the Ladies of the 
Court, of Citizens, and of Soldiers. The two latter are 
merged in the mob of Shakespeare. 

As a natural result of the limitations imposed by his model, 
Pescetti has to confine his action to the events of the day of 
Caesar's assassination, and can only inferentially introduce 
material of which Shakespeare could avail himself to the full. 
The place is always the same, and, though unmentioned by 
the dramatist, is presumably an open space before a temple 
in the immediate vicinity of Caesar's house. In conse- 
quence of these restrictions such hints as Pescetti may have 
furnished Shakespeare, are, almost exclusively, to be found 
embodied in the composition of the first three acts of "Julius 
Caesar." 

Shakespeare's main source was Plutarch; Pescetti's was 
Appian, though he did not hesitate to draw liberally from 

* Pharsalia, Bk. II., where the Chorus of Matrons bewails Caesar's ap- 
proach. 



Plutarch, Suetonius, Lucan, Ovid, and Vergil when the 
occasion required. In this I disagree with the only two com- 
mentators who have given this drama more than passing 
attention.* With the exception of the Brutus-Portia scene, 
the portents, and his idealization of Brutus' character, in 
every one of the main incidents of the first four acts, and in 
the entire fifth act, the Italian follows Appian faithfully. But, 
like Shakespeare, he does not hesitate to amplifyf his material 
nor to invent such incidents as the exigencies of the situation 
seem to demand. 

That Shakespeare went further than Plutarch for his sources 
has been the subject of much discussion. He introduces 
historical touches not found in the biographer. I purpose 
to show in the course of this work that almost every one of 
these he could readily have obtained through Pescetti. This 
Renaissance rhetorician was thoroughly at home in the 
classics, and his work throughout bears unmistakable evidence 
of their influence. 

It is certain that he was well acquainted with the Latin 
tragedy "Caesar," written in 1544 by the French humanist 
Marc Antoine Muret (Muretus). Pescetti's enemies were 
quick to recognize the resemblance between the two plays 
and openly accused him of plagiarism. While the Italian 
undoubtedly received many hints from the work of his prede- 
cessor, there is no ground for the vicious attack made upon 
him by Beni.J Moreover, his borrowings, such as they are, 
in no way affect our investigation. Undoubtedly he was 
also acquainted with the "Cesar" of Jacques Grevin (1561). 

*Emilio Bertana in "La tragedia," 1904. and Francesco Neri in "La 
tragedia italiana nel Cinquecento," 1904. 

t Inflate is perhaps more accurate in Pescetti's case. 

% He says, "E di qui 6 che preso animo e fatto cuore, poco dipoi compose, 
o piii tosto tradusse in volgare, una Tragedia del Mureto detta il Cesare. . . . 
E vero che per alquanto ampliarla e ricoprir' insieme il furto, vi ando inserendo, 
e qua e la traponendo, varie leggierezze e vanita di sua testa. In modo tale 
che almen per queste meriterebbe d'esserne stimato Autore." From "II 
Cavalcanti," by Michelangelo Fonte (Paolo Beni). In Padova per Francesco 
Bolzetta, 1614. Page 107 ff. The animus back of such a charge may be 
inferred from the fact that Muretus has but little over eight hundred lines. 



But, whatever the hints as to treatment Pescetti may have 
received from Muretus,* it is to his minute knowledge of 
the classic authors that he owes the substance of his drama. 
He makes a far greater use than do his predecessors of the 
material later employed by Shakespeare. Very noteworthy 
is the fact that here we find for the first time in any play on 
the subject, the Brutus-Portia scene; the suspense occasioned 
by the suspected discovery of the plot; the panic among the 
conspirators when Popilius Lena addresses Caesar; the great 
prominence of the portents. 

The material derived from classical sources and used both 
by Shakespeare and Pescetti includes the conference between 
Brutus and Cassius ; the respect in which the former was held ; 
his relations tQ his wife, and her demand to share his confidence ; 
the enthusiasm of the conspirators; their sparing of Antony 
at Brutus' request; the prodigies and portents that preceded 
Caesar's death; Calpurnia's dream and her efforts to stay 

and that Pescetti introduces much effective material not found in the former's 
tragedy. Fr. Saverio Quadrio in "Delia storia e della ragione d'ogni poesia," 
Milano, 1739, Vol. IV, p. 72, says of "Cesare:" "Fiori questo poeta celebre 
per altre opere circa il 1590; e questafu la prima tragedia di tale argomento che 
in lingua volgare si componesse: ne ha che fare con quella del Mureto, come ha 
malamente scritto il Fontanini, togliendolo da Paolo Beni." In Fontanini, 
Giusto, "Biblioteca dell'eloquenza italiana con le annotazione del Sig. 
Apostolo Zeno "-Venezia, Pasquali, 1753 (4 vols.). Vol. 1, p. 483, we read of 
Pescetti's work: " Nel Cavalcanti del Beni si fa nuovo stragio di Cesare per colpa 
di questo autore, come di plagiario del Mureto nella Tragedia latina del Cesare. 
Si vede, che i ladri letterari, colti in flagranti come succede, si rendono poi 
scherniti e ridicoli; e che poco giova l'andarsi rampicando per forza, quasi 
erba parietaria, sulle industrie degli altri, come se fossero loro proprie, 
con cercar poi di occultarlo, quando per conoscerlo di primo aspetto, 
ci vuole assai poco, mentre le cose o presto or tardi si scoprono." In a note 
Zeno says: "II Cesare del Mureto, e'l Cesare del Pescetti poco piu di commune 
han fra loro, che l'argomento, la storia, ed il titolo; e pero l'accusa di plagiario 
data del Beni al Pescetti, contra del quale scrisse il suo Cavalcanti per difesa 
della sua Anticrusca, e anzi dettata dalla passione che dalla verita." It is 
interesting to note that Fontanini, like Allaci, speaks only of a 1604 edition 
of "Cesare." Zeno, however, is careful to point out the error. 

* There are portions of the speeches of the principal characters decidedly 
reminiscent of Muretus, but the similarity is more in content than in expression, 
and seldom enter those portions of "Cesare" which parallel those in "Julius 
Caesar." 



10 

her husband at home and the counter efforts of Decimus 
Brutus; the warning letter given to Caesar (only mentioned 
in "Cesare" by the Messenger); all the details of the assas- 
sination scene, and Brutus' speech to the people. Both also 
make use of personal characteristics mentioned either in 
Plutarch or in Appian. Thus Antony's friendship for Caesar, 
his fondness for revelry, his hold on the soldiers; Brutus' 
intense patriotism, his hatred for tyranny, his magnanimity, 
his disinterestedness, his love of study; the caution of Cassius, 
his hatred of tyrants; Caesar's lately acquired superstition and 
arrogance. These are all derived from the above sources. 
Pescetti refers to Pompey several times, but he says nothing 
about the actions of the tribunes, nor about their punishment. 
Nor is there any mention of the prophecy of danger on the 
Ides of March; of the offer of the Crown on the Lupercal or 
on any other occasion; of the anonymous letters sent to Brutus; 
of the conspirators' contempt for an oath; of their rejection 
of Cicero as confederate; of Ligarius; of Artimidorus or his 
attempted intervention; of Antony's speech. 

On the other hand Pescetti introduces material either simply 
hinted at or altogether omitted in Shakespeare and the 
histories. Such is the account of the conversation between 
Antony and Caesar, and Caesar's opinion of death; the pleas 
used by Decimus Brutus; the various conversations between 
Portia and Cassius; between the Priest and Calpurnia, and 
between Caesar and the Priest; the lamentations of Calpurnia. 
He gives much prominence to the Priest and to Calpurnia's 
servant. He founded his choruses on material partly sug- 
gested by Lucan, and perhaps by Muretus, Grevin and 
Gamier. 

While Pescetti drew liberally from Plutarch, yet his indebted- 
ness to Appian is particularly significant for our purpose. 
There are passages in "Julius Caesar" wherein Shakespeare 
introduces historical touches which apparently can only be 
explained upon the supposition that he knew and used the 
English translation of Appian published in 1578. Owing to 
the peculiar parallelism often evident in the accounts both of 
Plutarch and of Appian, and to the absence in "Julius Caesar" 



II 



of those minutiae necessary to a positive confirmation, the 
question of Shakespeare's indebtedness to the Greek historian 
has remained largely conjectural. Pescetti undoubtedly used 
Appian, and in his use of the materials, and in the similarity 
to Shakespeare's subsequent treatment, the supposition that 
Appian was the ultimate source of the disputed passages 
seems to receive its strongest confirmation. 



THE INFLUENCE OF APPIAN 

The English translation of Appian, by " W. B.," was 
published in 1578. This is the work supposedly used by 
Shakespeare. In his "Julius Caesar" there are four places 
in which the influence of the historian seems predominant; in 
a part of the speech of Brutus to the citizens; in the oration of 
Antony; in the conduct of the conspirators immediately 
following the murder; and in a detail concerning Antony. 

Neither the address of Brutus nor the funeral oration of 
Antony is recorded in Plutarch. Both are to be found in 
Appian. It has been suggested* that from him Shakespeare 
got the idea for Brutus' exclamation, "Had you rather Caesar 
were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to 
live all freemen?" Appian's Brutus says: "We at his desire 
gaue him security, and as it should seeme, afrayde of himself, 
seking to make his Tyrany sure, we sware unto it. If he had 
required us to sware, not only to confirme the things past, 
but also to haue bene hys slaues in time to come, what woulde 
they then haue done that nowe lie in wayte for our Hues? 
I suppose verye Romaines indeede, wyll rather choose certaine 
death as they haue oft done, than by an othe to abyde willing 
seruitude."f 

While it is possible that Shakespeare, following his custom 
in the composition of this particular play, may have derived 
this hint from the scattered pages of Plutarch, or indeed con- 
ceived it independently as a dramatic consequence of Brutus' 
previously expressed attitude, yet the advantage of Appian's 
account is manifest. Pescetti knew and used this account, 

♦Especially by Prof. Frederick H. Sykes in his notes to "Julius Caesar," 
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1909. 

t Appian (1578), p. 153. EZ 8e tj/mv 6fj.vvvou nrpoffirTarev, ov ra irapeKdbvTa 
fibvov oicreiv iyKpaT&s, ak\a dov\ev<reiv is rb fxiWov etcdvTas, rl hv errpa^av oi vvv 
iiri^ovKevovres i/fjuv ; iyib fxev yap, 6vras ye 'Pufialovs, ol/xat 7roXA<£/as airoOaveTp 
e\iffdai fiaXKov, ?) 5ov\eveiv e/c6vras iirl Spicy. Appian, Ed. Didot. P. 403. 



13 

and while the same idea does not occur in Brutus' address in 
"Cesare" it is repeatedly expressed throughout the play. 
If we admit the possibility of Shakespeare's derivation of the 
disputed hints through a careful selection from the pages of 
Plutarch, there can be no strong objection to granting him 
the exercise of a similar freedom in his perusal of Pescetti. 
It was a common enough practice of the Elizabethan dramatists 
to appropriate suitable material wherever and whenever they 
encountered it, a fact which must be borne in mind throughout 
this discussion. 

Shakespeare could have found his matter in Pescetti. 
There is nothing more repugnant to the Brutus of "Cesare" 
than the idea of slavery, and he voices his opinion time and 
again throughout the play. To quote but one instance: 
Cassius and Brutus are discussing liberty and Brutus says: 

" II Tiranno e peggior dell' omicida, 
Perche la vita l'omicida toglie, 
Ma con la dignita toglie il possesso 
Delia vita il Tiranno, e chi ad altrui, 
Non a se, vive, e vie peggior, che morte: 
Percio saggio Caton, saggio et ardito, 
Ch'anzi morir, che viver servo elesse." — Ces., p. 89. 

The possibility that the address of Antony, as recorded by 
Appian, furnished Shakespeare hints for the oration in the 
play, has recently been investigated by Prof. MacCallum.* 
He concludes that while Appian's account bears little re- 
semblance to the oration, it nevertheless contains some parallels 
in details. Antony both in the history and in the drama 
calls attention to his friendship for Caesar; to the honors the 
latter had bestowed on his murderers; he proclaims his own 
readiness to avenge his benefactor's death ; he recites Caesar's 
triumphs and the spoils he sent to Rome; he uncovers Caesar's 
corpse and displays the bloodstained robe; he makes Caesar 
cite the names of those whom he had pardoned and advanced 
only to destroy him. 

* "Shakespeare's Roman Plays and their Background, " p. 646. MacMillan 
& Company, London and New York. 1910. 



14 

Professor MacCallum confesses that the evidence is not 
very convincing, but that it is strengthened greatly by the 
apparent loans from the same author discernible in Shake- 
speare's treatment of various passages in "Antony and Cleo- 
patra." The question at present is not whether the hints in 
"Julius Caesar" were derived from Appian, but whether they 
were derived from the English translation. The likelihood 
that Shakespeare knew and used this translation when he 
wrote his later tragedy, does not exclude the possibility that 
he was not acquainted with it when he composed the earlier 
work, nor that he received the hints attributed to Appian 
not at first hand, but through his knowledge of Pescetti's 
drama.* 

The Italian's work contains no funeral oration by Antony, 
but the entire fifth act is dramatically parallel to the third 
act of "Julius Caesar." In it we find Brutus' speech to the 
people, the account of the assassination, the various laments 
for Caesar, a chorus singing Brutus' praises and another 
singing those of Caesar. The entire act is founded upon 
Appian, and despite its comparative inferiority in dramatic 
treatment, is rich in suggestions which a better dramatist 
could use to great advantage. Caesar's victories, his mag- 
nanimity to his enemies, their base treachery and Antony's 

* As in the case of the supposed loan in the oration of Brutus, a careful 
comparison of Plutarch and Appian reveals nothing which Shakespeare could 
not have obtained from the former, if not directly, at least as a natural con- 
sequence of Plutarch's various accounts. Even the matter of the display of 
the corpse is mentioned by the biographer (Julius Caesar, p. 102, Skeat'a 
Edition). As a matter of history, not the corpse itself, but a waxen image 
showing the mutilations, was exhibited to the populace. It is true that from 
Plutarch's direct accounts of the oration, Shakespeare could have obtained 
very little. The whole matter illustrates the great difficulty encountered by 
the investigator who seeks to disentangle Appian's contribution from that of 
Plutarch. This is especially difficult in view of the transformation inseparable 
from a dramatic treatment. In many passages covering the life of Caesar 
the marked similarity between the two writers has given rise to the theory that 
both worked from a common Greek source now lost. The minutiae necessary 
to a positive declaration in favor of Appian are lacking in Shakespeare's 
treatment of this particular scene, but as will be noted from the main argument,, 
they are evident in Pescetti. 



15 

readiness to avenge his friend's murder; in short, all the hints* 
presumably derived by Shakespeare from the English trans- 
lation of Appian are brought before us. Shakespeare could 
have found his material in Pescetti's drama, and the supposi- 
tion that he actually did do so is greatly strengthened by the 
fact that not only does the material under discussion reappear 
in "Julius Caesar", but it reappears accompanied by certain 
individual touches peculiar alone to Pescetti's treatment. 

Calpurnia's speeches, the recitals of the Messengers, and the 
comments of the Chorus are the dramatic counterpart in 
"Cesare" of the speeches of Antony in "Julius Caesar." 
Thus Calpurnia exlaims at the news of Caesar's death : 

"O dolce, 6 caro, 6 mio fedel consorte, 
O di quanti mai Roma 
Produsse figli, piu possente, e forte, 
O della nostra eta sovrano pregio, 
O domator de' ribellanti Galli, 
Del feroce German, del fier Britanno; 
O altrettanto dolce 

Al perdonar, quanto al combatter pronto, 
O stupor delle genti, 
O miracol del mondo, 
Le cui maravigliose, 
E soprumane prove 
Stancheran tutte le piu dotte penne, 
E con stupor saranno 
Cantate, udite e lette 
Da quei, che dopo noi 
Verran mill' anni, e mille." — Ces., pp. 128-29. 

"Oime quel, ch'ai nemici ha perdonato, 
Quel, ch'il maggior nemico ha pianto morto, 
E stat' ei da coloro, a cui donata 
Avea la vita, indegnamente ucciso." — Ces., p. 135. 

Here Caesar's kindness to his enemies, his conquests, the 
sense of Rome's irreparable loss are emphasized. 

"Here was a Caesar! when comes such another?" 
* If we except the display of the corpse. 



16 

To Shakespeare, Pescetti's work could hardly have been 
more than a recital of events connected with a notable oc- 
currence in history, and while he needed no "Cesare" to point 
him towards the aim of Antony's address, it is noteworthy 
that Calpurnia openly urges what Antony secretly wished, and 
towards which he shaped every sentence of his great oration. 
Shakespeare's treatment is so vastly superior that attempts 
at comparison seem well nigh ridiculous; yet, when we con- 
sider how the great poet was able to transform the meanest 
hints into the mighty scenes we find in his greatest dramas,* 
we may well hesitate to overlook similarities, however far 
removed they may seem from the matter under consideration. 
Thus Calpurnia exhorts the soldiers to vengeance: 

"O robusti, o magnanimi soldati, 
Che sotto la felice scorta, sotto 
Le fortunate, e gloriose insegne 
Del mio Cesare invitto 
Mille vittorie riportate avete, 
Date di mano all' arme, 
Prendete il ferro, e '1 fuoco, 
E 1'empia, indegna morte, e'l fiero strazio 
Vendicate del vostro 
Signore, e capitano:" — Pp. 133-34. 

Later on the Chorus of Soldiers exclaims: 

"Patirem noi, compagni, 
Ch' invendicato resti 
Lui, per cui fatto abbiamo 
Di richezze e d'onor tanti guadagni? — P. 143. 

"there were an Antony 
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a tongue 
In every wound of Caesar, that should move 
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny." — J. C, III., II, 224. 

"He hath brought many captives home to Rome, 
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill." 

Calpurnia denounces Brutus : 

* Especially in those founded on material derived from Italian sources. 



17 

"O Bruto, 6 Bruto, veramente Bruto, 
Non men d'animo, e d'opre, che di nome, 
Come t'e dato il cuor d'uccider quello, 
Ch'a te donato avea la vita e in luogo 
Preso t'avea di figlio? ahi scelerato, 
Ahi d'ogn' umanita nemico; cuore 
Piu che d'Orso, e de Tigre Ircana crudo, 
Come a ferir quel sacrosanto corpo, 
Orrido gel non ti lego le membra?" — P. 133. 

Antony specifically mentions Brutus as "the well beloved." 
Of special significance is the fact that he makes the same play 
on the name Brutus* as we find in Pescetti: 

"O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts 
And men have lost their reason." — III., 11, 102. 

It is noteworthy that Calpurnia, after the play on the name, 
proceeds to emphasize the brutality of the murder, not only 
by referring to the closeness of the relation between Brutus 
and Caesar, but also by comparing the insensate cruelty of 
his assassin to that of the most savage beasts. There is no 
warrant for this touch in the histories. Again, note the 
parallel : 

"For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel; 
Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him." 

—III., 11,180. 

Another individual touch of Pescetti's reappears in Antony's 
oration. Thus the Chorus in "Cesare," on hearing that 
Caesar's body is being borne to his house by a few slaves, 
exclaims, 

"E quegli, a cui comandamenti presti 
Erano i Regi, e le provincie intiere, 
Or appena ha tre servi, 
Che'l portin su le spalle.f — Ces., p. 127. 

* It is found in Plutarch and in Cicero's letters, but not in connection with 
this scene. See Sykes' "Julius Caesar," Notes, pp. 151-2. 

t And when he wente from his house to the Senate, he was wayted on with 
manye of the magistrates, and great number of people, as wel Citizens as 



i8 

The Messenger at the sight of the corpse laments, 

"Ecco dov' e ridutto 
II pur dianzi Signor dell' universe" — P. 136. 

Antony says : 

11 But yesterday the word of Caesar might 
Have stood against the world : now lies he there, 
And none so poor to do him reverence." — III., II, 117. 

Also Act III., Sc. 1: 

"O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low? 
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, 
Shrunk to this small measure?" 

Calpurnia exclaims: 

" Dunque, oime, quella destra, 
C'ha vinti, e debellati 
Potentissimi eserciti, e distrutte 
Fortissime Cittadi, or fredda torpe 
Ad ogni officio inutile, e impotente?" — Ces., p. 129. 

The corpse* of Caesar is not displayed upon the stage, but 
the comments of the Chorus warn the spectator that it is 
approaching borne by the slaves, and Calpurnia cries: 

"Fermate o la, posate 
Quel corpo in terra, acciocche col mio pianto 
Lavi dall' aspre sue ferite il sangue." — Ces., p. 136. 

The familiar, 

"If you have tears, prepare to shed them now" 

straungers, and servantes and free men in great multitude; all the which fleeing 
away by heapes, only three seruantes taried, which layd his body in the litter. 
Thus three men not suteable, did carie him home that a little before was Lorde 
of sea and lande. (Appian, 1578, p. 142.) Kal al wXioves dpxal Kal iro\i>s fyaXos 
flXXos dcrTuJe, Kal ££vu)v t Kal iro\i>i Oep&iruv Kal i^e\ev0epos avrbv iirl rb ^ovXevr^piov 
£k TTJs olKlas irapeireirbp.<p€L(Tav • Siv adpbus 8ia<pvy6i>T<i)i> t rpe?s dep&irovres p.6uoi irapi- 
pxivav, ot rb aw/xa is rb <f>ope?ov ivdipjevoi, 8ieK6p.t<rav otKaSe avu/x&Xus, ota rpeh, rbv 
irpbdXlyov yr}sKal8a\d(r<rris irpoffTdTyv. Appian, Ed. Didot. P. 394. Suetonius 
has a similar account. 

* It seems that the matter of the display of the corpse in Shakespeare is as 
readily traceable to Plutarch as to Appian. 



19 

has its parallel in the lines of the speech of the Second Messen- 
ger addressed to the Chorus of Women : 

" Apparecchiate, o donne, gli occhi al pianto."* — Ces., p. 146. 

Calpurnia, in her exhortation to the soldiers referred to 
before, continues: 

"Su, che fate? stringete 
Nell' una man il ferro 
Nell' altra le facelle, 
E correte alle case 
De' traditori ingiusti, 
E uccidete, e ardete cio, ch'awanti 
Vi si para, ond' al cielo 
Salgano le faville, e'l Tebro porti 
L'onde sanguigne al mare. 
Che parlo? o dove sono? ahi che'l soverchio 
Dolor t'ha tratta di te stessa fuori, 
Infelice Calpurnia." — Ces., p. 134. 

Noteworthy in the above is the touch, "Che parlo? o dove 
sono?" etc. Thus Antony pauses: 

"Bear with me; 
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, 
And I must wait till it come back to me." 

Plutarch records the doings of the mob after they had been 
aroused by Antony's speech. He recounts that the mob 
cried "Kill the murderers," but chronicles no other excla- 
mations. Neither does Appian. In Pescetti, Calpurnia's 
speech contains material for the exclamations which interrupt 
Antony's discourse, but a direct parallel is to be found in the 
cry of the soldiers inflamed by the exhortations of Caesar's 
wife and the laments of the Chorus. They shout: 

"Su diam di mano aH'armi, 
E gridando armi, armi, armi, 
Alia vendetta gli animi infiammiamo. 

* But, it should be noted, not quite in the same connection as in Shakespeare. 
The Messenger warns the women to fly the terrors sure to follow the assassi- 
nation. 



20 

Arme, arme, sangue, sangue, ammazza, ammazza, 

Degli empi traditor non resti razza. 

Altri occupi le porte, 

Altri corra alia piazza, 

Altri al Tempio di Giove, altri alia Corte, ' 

E per tutti apparisca orrore, e morte." — Ces., pp. 143-144. 

During Antony's speech the mob cries: 

"Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill! Slay! 
Let not a traitor live!" 

This is not only a close verbal parallel, but the similarity 
in the exclamatory treatment is remarkable. 

Another personal touch is to be found in the idea that 
Caesar's fall was Rome's fall, which is strong throughout 
Pescetti,and is not traceable to the influence of the historians. 
Thus the Second Messenger says: 

"Giunto e l'ultimo di; giunto e la fine 
Di questa altiera patria, 6 donne; Roma 
Fu; noi fummo Romani; or ogni gloria 
Ogni grandezza nostra e posta in fondo." — Ces., p. 146. 

Antony exclaims, 

"O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! 
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, 
Whilst bloody treason flourished over us." 

But one more point in connection with Antony's oration 
remains for discussion. Antony's friendship for Caesar and 
his desire for vengeance on the latter's murderers are matters 
just as readily derivable from Plutarch's accounts as from the 
oration by Antony as recorded in Appian. Pescetti, following 
Appian's account of the events immediately following the 
assassination, puts the following in the mouth of the Second 
Messenger: 

"Antonio . . . 
Fuggito e a casa, e d'essere credendo 
Anch'egli a morte destinato, or cinge 
Di ripari fortissimi la casa, 



21 

E si prepara alia difesa contra 
Chiunque oltraggio, 6 scorno fargli tenti. 
Lepido s'e nell' Isola con quattro 
Legion ritirato, et ha mandato 
Dicendo a Marcantonio, ch'egli e pronto 
Co'suoi soldati a far quanto da lui 
Gli sara imposto: Onde si stima ch'egli 
Per vendicar la morte dell' amico 
Debba spingergli addosso a congiurati, 
E lor tagliar a pezzi, e le lor case 
Arder, e rovinar da fondamenti." — P. 148. 

Not only is Antony's desire for vengeance intimated, but the 
ultimate fate of the conspirators, and the failure of their 
cause is distinctly foreshadowed. But most significant is 
the fact that Pescetti, here almost literally following Appian, 
makes Antony take refuge in his own house. In Shakespeare 
Antony is also made to take refuge in his own house. Cassius 
inquires : 

"Where is Antony? 
Trebonius — Fled to his house amazed." — (Act III., Sc. 1, 96.) 

This touch is certainly not derived from Plutarch. The 
biographer says (Julius Caesar, p. 101): "But Antonius and 
Lepidus, which were two of Caesar's chief est friends, secretly 
conveying themselves away, fled into other men's houses and 
forsook their own." Appian says: "Antony went to his owne 
house, entending to take advice for this case of Cesars." 
(Appian, 1578, p. 141.)* 

But one more supposed loan from Appian remains for in- 
vestigation. This is to be found in the behavior of the con- 
spirators immediately after the murder. Plutarch's account 
is as follows: "Brutus and his confederates on the other side, 
being yet hot with this murder they had committed, having 
their swords drawn in their hands, came all in a troup together 
out of the Senate and went into the market-place, not as 
men that made countenance to fly, but otherwise boldly 

* Avrd>vi6s re ttjv oIkIolv uxfyov, reK/j-aipo/xevos ffweiri^ovKe^ecrdai t<£ Kalffapi. 
Appian, Ed. Didot. P. 394. 



22 

holding up their heads like men of courage, and called to the 
people to defend their liberty, and stayed to speak with every 
great personage whom they met on their way." (Julius 
Caesar, p. 101, Skeat's Ed.) 
In Shakespeare we read : 

" Caes.— Et tu Brute? Then fall, Caesar. (Dies) 
Cinna. — Liberty ! freedom ! Tyranny's dead ! 

Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. 
Cas. — Some to the common pulpits and cry out 
'Liberty, freedom and enfranchisement!'" 

A little farther on Brutus exclaims: 

"Stoop, Romans, stoop, 
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood 
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords: 
Then walk we forth, even to the market-place, 
And waving our red weapons o'er our heads, 
Let's all cry 'Peace, freedom and liberty!'" — III., I, 106. 

Plutarch mentions no sayings of the conspirators; there is 
no mention of the dripping swords. Shakespeare is here 
supposed to follow Appian, who says: "The murderers woulde 
haue sayde somewhat in ye Senate house, but no man would 
tarry to heare. They wrapt their gowns about their left 
armes as targets, and hauying their daggers bloudy, cryed they 
had kylled a King and a Tyranne, and one bare an hatte 
upon a speare, in token of Libertie. Then they exhorted them 
to the common wealth of their country and remembered olde 
Brutus, and the oth mode againste the old kings." (Appian, 
JSyS, P- !4 2 -)* Here we find the matter of the dripping 
swords, and an intimation of the cry of the Conspirators. 
But Pescetti, who followed Appian, supplies a still closer 
parallel. Here Brutus, after announcing the death of the 

* 01 St cr<payet$ ifiofiXovro /J.iv ri e'nreTv iv tQ povXevrTjply. OvSevbs dk irapa- 
fxelvavTos, rd 1/j.drta reus Xaicus, wcrwep d<nrl8as, TrepiirXe^d/jievoi, Kal ra £l<pr) fierd 
rov a'inaros ^x ot/Tes , i^o7]8p6p.ovv (iaffiXe'a Kal ripavvov dveXeip • ical ir?\6v tu itrl 
diparos e(f>epe, crtififiokov iXevOepucreus • iirl re ttjv irdrpiov iroXirelav irapeicdXovv, Ka- 
"BpotJTOv rov wdXai Kal twv t6t€ <r<pl<nv dfAUfuxTp.t'puv iiri rots 7rd\ai fiaaiXevaiv dvel 
(i.lp.vrj<TKOv. Appian, Edition Didot, Paris, 1877. P. 395. 



23 

tyrant, and after exhorting the poeple to rejoice in their 
reestablished liberties, turns to the conspirators and exclaims: 

" Ma scorriam per la terra, 
O voi, che fidelissimi compagni, 
Mi siete stati all' onorata impresa, 
Con le coltella in mano, 
Del Tirannico sangue ancor stillanti 
E co' pilei su l'aste 
E'l popolo di Marte 
Chiamiamo a libertade. 

Con. — Liberta, liberta, morto e il Tiranno 

Libera e Roma, e rotto e il giogo indegno." — Ces., pp. 1 16-17. 

Here we have the substance of Appian's account. Here 
Brutus, as in Shakespeare, addresses his fellow conspirators. 
In the one case he refers to them as "most faithful companions," 
in the other, as "Romans." In both he exhorts them to the 
same purpose. In one they are to rove the streets with their 
dripping swords still in their hands, and to call the people of 
Rome to their reestablished liberty; in the other, they are 
exhorted to walk forth waving their red weapons over their 
heads, and to cry "Peace, freedom and liberty." The cry of 
the chorus in Pescetti seems an answer to this appeal : 

"Liberta, liberta, morto e il Tiranno 
Libera e Roma e rotto e il giogo indegno." 

And this again is closely parallel to Cinna's outburst, 

" Liberty ! freedom ! Tyranny is dead ! 
Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets!" 

The latter part of this seems an echo of 

"E'l popolo di Marte 
Chiamiamo a libertade." — P. 116. 

"Cesare" contains no close parallel to Brutus' exclamation: 

"Stoop, Romans, stoop, 
And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood 
Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords:" 



24 

But Pescetti indicates a similar savage desire : 

"E fu si grande del feiir la voglia 
Ricandosi ciascuno a somma gloria, 
Tinger la spada sua nel sacro sangue."* — P. 126. 

He does say that the conspirators besmeared their swords, 
and Shakespeare but intensified the scene by making the 
murderers literally bathe in the blood of their victim. f 

In this case, as in the others, the material from Appian is 
to be found in Pescetti, and reappears in Shakespeare accom- 
panied by touches due to Pescetti alone. We find further, 
that in all the cases wherein the influence of Appian has been 
suspected, Shakespeare could have derived his matter from 
Pescetti, who, we can positively affirm, used Appian as his 
source. The resemblance in Shakespeare between the scenes 
under discussion and the corresponding scenes in Pescetti is 
far stronger than the similarity to their alleged source in the 
English translation of Appian, for not only does Shakespeare 
make use of the same historical matter which Pescetti derived 
from the historian, but he includes individual touches found 
only in the Italian drama. The conclusion that Shakespeare 
derived from Pescetti the hints previously attributed to his 
acquaintance with the English translation of Appian seems, 
therefore, tentatively justifiable. This conclusion will be 
greatly strengthened by the evidence adducible from the other 
similarities existing between the two plays. Among these the 
treatment of the supernatural element in both dramas offers 
points of contact which will now be discussed. 

* Indicated in Plutarch also — Marcus Brutus — p. 119. He speaks of the 
eagerness of the conspirators to plunge their swords into Caesar, and records 
that every one of them was stained with blood. 

t Also regarded as a supposedly ironical answer to Decimus' interpretation 
of the dream. 



THE HANDLING OF THE SUPERNATURAL 
ELEMENT 

Shakespeare's skill in the handling of the supernatural 
element in "Julius Caesar" has been much commended. The 
omens and prodigies are distributed in such a way as best to 
emphasize the tragic element and they serve to invest the 
entire play in an atmosphere of portent. For his material 
he drew largely upon Plutarch, but he also introduces matter 
apparently indicating a familiarity with Ovid, Vergil, Lucan, 
and Suetonius. Pescetti makes use of the supernatural 
element to a far greater extent than do his predecessors.* His 
recital of the omens and the prodigies embraces almost every 
item which the industry of a Renaissance scholar could cull 
from the pages of Plutarch, Ovid, Vergil, Lucan, Suetonius, 
and Appian. With a single exception, all the omens mentioned 
by Shakespeare and not directly traceable to Plutarch, can be 
found in Pescetti, whose treatment of the entire supernatural 
element affords some interesting parallels. 

Plutarch's account, which furnished Shakespeare the bulk 
of his material, is as follows: 

* In Pescetti the Priest's recital of the omens consists of some one hundred 
and three lines. Muretus has Calpurnia's recital to the nurse of the dream 
wherein she beheld Caesar's bleeding body, and the following: 

Calp: Audere desine tu prius 

Tuaeque si adeo spernis uxoris metum 
Movere vatum oraculis minacibus, 
Periculosam qui tibi hanc lucem admonent: 
Si spectra, si te auspicia, si fibrae monent 
Cavere, et hunc meum timorem comprobant: 
Quid in paratam pertinax mortem ruis? 

Caes: Quando timorem ponere aliter non potes, 
Ne nos tibi queraris omnino nihil 
Tribuere, mittatur Senatus in hunc diem. Lines 343-52. 

Hereupon D. Brutus protests to Caesar and the latter yields. Grevin has 
substantially the same account. For Muretus and Grevin I use Collischonn's 
reprint. See Bibliography. 

25 



26 

"Certainly destiny may easier be foreseen than avoided, considering 
the strange and wonderful signs that were said to be seen before 
Caesar's death. For, touching the fires in the element, and spirits 
running up and down in the night and also of the solitary birds to be 
seen at noondays sitting in the great market-place, are not all these 
signs perhaps worth the noting, in such a wonderful chance as hap- 
pened? But Strabo, the philosopher, writeth, that men were seen 
going up and down in fire; and, furthermore, that there was a slave 
of the soldiers that did cast a marvelous burning flame out of his hands, 
insomuch as they that saw it thought he had been burned; but when 
the fire was out, it was found he had no hurt. Caesar self also doing 
sacrifice unto the gods, found that one of the beasts which was sacrificed 
had no heart: which was a strange thing in nature, how a beast could 
live without a heart. Furthermore there was a certain soothsayer 
that had given Caesar warning long time before, to take heed of the 
day of the Ides of March, (which is the fifteenth of the month), for 
on that day he should be in great danger. That day being come, 
Caesar going into the Senate-house, and speaking merrily unto the 
soothsayer, told him 'the Ides of March be come': 'so they be,' 
softly answered the soothsayer, 'but yet are they not past!' And the 
very day before, Caesar, supping with Marcus Lepidus, sealed certain 
letters, as he was wont to do, at the board : so, talk falling out amongst 
them, reasoning what death was the best, he, preventing their opinions, 
cried out aloud, 'Death unlooked for!' Then, going to bed the same 
night, as his manner was, and lying with his wife Calpurnia, all the 
windows of his chamber flying open, the noise awoke him, and made 
him afraid when he saw such light; but more, when he heard his wife 
Calpurnia, being fast asleep, weep and sigh, and put forth many 
fumbling lamentable speeches; for she dreamed that Caesar was slain, 
and that she held him in her arms."* 

Professor MacCallum, commenting upon this account says: 
"It is interesting to note how Shakespeare takes this passage 
to pieces, and assigns those of them for which he has a place 
to their fitting and effective position. Plutarch's reflections 
on destiny and Caesar's opinion on death he leaves aside. 
The first warning of the soothsayer he refers back to the 
Lupercalia, and the second he shifts forward to its natural 
place. Calpurnia's outcries in her sleep and her prophetic 
dream, the apparition of the ghosts mentioned by her among 

* Life of Caesar, p. 98, Skeat's edition. 



27 

the other prodigies, the lack of the heart in the sacrificial 
beast, are reserved for the scene of her expostulation with 
Caesar, and are dramatically distributed among the various 
speakers; Caesar, the servant, Calpurnia herself."* 

Pescetti also takes this same passagef and distributes the 
various sections in a manner similar to Shakespeare's treat- 
ment, but dramatically infinitely inferior. He, however, 
devotes nearly two hundred and fifty lines at the beginning 
of the third act of "Cesare" to a dialogue between Antony 
and Caesar, rather tediously moralizing on destiny and Caesar's 
opinion on death. The only purpose, dramatically, is to 
continue the feeling of impending disaster created in the 
previous acts and to give Antony an opportunity of warning 
Caesar to beware of treachery. J The warnings of the sooth- 
sayer are entirely disregarded ; the only intimation we receive 
of this very effective scene is the announcement of the mes- 
senger in the fifth act that a paper which gave all the details 
of the conspiracy, and which Caesar had had no opportunity 
to read, had been found clutched in his dead hand. Nearly 
half his second act is occupied by a long drawn out dialogue 
between Calpurnia and the servant regarding the former's 
fears, and the terrible dream she has had. The Priest, in the 
third act, together with Calpurnia, recounts the portents to 
Caesar, and tries to dissuade him from disregarding the mani- 
fest tokens of the gods' displeasure. The inspection of the 
sacrificial beast without a heart is reserved for the expostu- 
lation of the Priest. Pescetti, like Shakespeare, thus attempts 
a distribution of the supernatural which tends to emphasize 
the impending catastrophe and to invest his play in an at- 
mosphere of portent very similar to that created in "Julius 
Caesar." 

In both dramas ghosts play important parts. Dramatic- 
ally, it is quite probable that Pescetti was only following the 
Senecan tradition when he introduced the ghost of Pompey, 
but, historically, it seems that he was indebted to Lucan for 

* Op. cit., p. 194. 

t Rather Appian's almost parallel account. 

i In the "Cornelie" of Gamier (1574) he also warns Caesar. 



28 

this hint. The poet in Book IX. of the " Pharsalia" describes 
how the soul of Caesar's foe, leaving the tomb, soars to the 
abode of the blessed, and thence, looking down upon the 
earth, inspires the breasts of Brutus and Cato.* This is the 
episode which probably furnished Pescetti hints for the em- 
ployment of the ghost of Pompey as the prime exciting force 
upon the Brutus of his play. 

Now, Plutarch mentions the apparition which appears to 
Brutus at Philippi, as Brutus' "ill angel" (page 104, J. C, 
Skeat). Shakespeare calls it "Caesar's ghost," thereby 
immeasurably enhancing its dramatic significance. That he 
should be compelled by his keen perception of its dramatic 
fitness so to handle this episode, seems a very reasonable 
conclusion; still, in view of his obligations to Pescetti, it 
would not be stretching probabilities too far to suggest that 
the Italian's use of the shade of Pompey was not without its 
influence in the composition of this particular scene. What 
a fitting example of poetic justice! That Pompey 's shade 
should rouse Brutus to execute vengeance on a Caesar held 
responsible for his death ; that this same ghost-inspired zealot 
should in turn have his own doom pronounced by the shade 
of his victim, closes a cycle of nemesis which surely must have 
appealed to the great poet. 

But it is in regard to the disturbances in the elements, and 
the attendant prodigies, that we get a marked parallel between 
the two plays. Casca, while the storm is raging, exclaims: 

"Are you not moved, when all the sway of earth 
Shakes, like a thing unfirm? O Cicero, 
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds 
Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen 
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam, 
To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds; 
But never till to-night, never till now, 
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire. 
Either there is a civil strife in heaven, 
Or else the world, too saucy with the gods, 
Incenses them to send destruction. 

* Pharsalia, Book IX., lines 1-23. 



29 

Cic. — Why, saw you anything more wonderful? 
Casca — A common slave — you know him well by sight, — 
Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn 
Like twenty torches joined, and yet his hand 
Not sensible of fire, remained unscorched. 
Besides, — I ha' not since put up my sword, — 
Against the Capitol I met a lion, 
Who glared upon me, and went surly by 
Without annoying me. And there were drawn 
Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, 
Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw 
Men all in fire walk up and down the streets. 
And yesterday the bird of night did sit 
Even at noon-day upon the Market-place, 
Hooting and shrieking. When these prodigies 
Do so conjointly meet, let not men say, 
'These are their reasons: they are natural:' 
For, I believe, they are portentous things 
Unto the climate that they point upon."* 

In addition to the supernatural elements recounted in 
Casca's speech, Calpurnia trying to dissuade Caesar, says: 

"... There is one within, 
Besides the things that we have heard and seen, 
Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch. 
A lioness hath whelped in the street; 
And graves have yawned and yielded up their dead; 
Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds, 
In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, 
Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol; 
The noise of battle hurtled in the air, 
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan; 
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets." 

—II., II, 14- 



When beggars die there are no comets seen; 

The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." 

The servant reporting the sacrifice says: 
* j. c, Act I., Sc. in, L. 1-32. 



30 

" Plucking the entrails of an offering forth, 
They could not find a heart within the beast." 

The Priest in "Cesare" in his soliloquy exclaims: 

"Giunon con spaventosi, orribil tuoni, 
Con spessi lampi, e fulmini tremendi, 
Con infauste comete, con istrane 
Pioggie di sangue, e grandini di pietre, 
Con sembianze di pugne, con orrendi 
Strepiti di tamburi, e suon di trombe, 
Con alte grida, pianti, urli, e lamenti, 
Uditi nel suo regno ha mostro, quanto 
Sia contro noi d'ira, e di sdegno accesa. 
Nettun volto ha sossopra tutto il suo 
Immenso regno, e si gonfiato ha l'onde, 
Che parea, che de' suoi confin volesse 
Uscir, e tutta subissar la terra; 



L'antica madre s'e piu volte anch' essa 

Scossa si, che parea, che il grave pondo 

Dell 'huom malvagio, che sostien, volesse 

Scuoter del tergo suo, et in piu luoghi 

Per inghiottirlo ha il vasto seno aperto : 

Ne pur questi gran corpi, ond'ogni cosa 

Si genera, ma molti ancor de' misti 

Predetto han gli infortuni, e i danni nostri." — Pp. 74-75. 

In other portions of the Priest's soliloquy we read : 

" Ne questi pur co'lor maligni aspetti, 
Ma la Luna ecclissata, anzi di goccie 
Sanguigne tutta sparsa, e'l Sol d'oscuro, 
E ferrugineo vel coperto il volto. 



Da mille tetti udito s'e lo stigio 
Gufo versi cantar lugubri, e mesti; 
In mille tempi gli ebani, e gli avori 
Lagrimar si son visti, e sudar sangue; 
Per le piazze, alle case, a i tempi intorno 
Notturni cani urlar si sono uditi, 
E strider importune, e infauste streghe. 
Si son viste grand'ombre, de' sepolcri 



3i 

Uscite, andar per la Citta vagando 

Nelle persone alto terror mettendo. 

II monte, che ad Encelado le spalle 

Col suo gran peso calca, e preme, rotte 

Le bollenti fornaci ha tai torrenti 

Di Zolfo, e di bitume vomitati, 

E tante fiamme, e sassi liquefatti, 

Ch'inondate, e distrutte, 

Le soggette campagne ha de' Ciclopi. 

Ma quel che piu d'ogni altro mi spaventa 

E, che l'interiora di ciascuna 

Vittima mostran miseri, e infelici 

Awenimenti, atroci, orribil mali: 

Perche in alcune non si trova il cuore, 

In altre e guasto il fegato, o'l polmone, 

Altre di negro fel son tutte sparse, 

Segni tutti evidenti di gran mali."* — Pp. 75—76. 

The soliloquy of the Priest seems to be a composite of the 
omens and prodigies mentioned by Ovid, Vergil, Plutarch, 
Appian, Suetonius, and Lucan. Ovid and Vergil seem to be 
his main sources. 

* In Hamlet 1, 1, 113 seq. we read. 

Hot. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. 

In the most high and palmy state of Rome, 

A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, 

The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead, 

Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets; 

As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, 

Disasters in the sun; and the moist star 

Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands, 

Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse. 

And even the like precurse of fierce events — 

As harbingers preceding still the fates, 

And prologue to the omen coming on, — 

Have heaven and earth together demonstrated 

Unto our climatures and country men. — 

The text is obviously corrupt. These lines do not appear in the Folio, nor is 
there any trace of them in the earliest quarto. It has been conjectured that 
the poet suppressed this passage in representation, after he had written "Julius 
Caesar." Certainly the similarity to Pescetti is striking. The "dews of blood " 
are again mentioned ; also the eclipse of the moon, neither occurring in Plutarch. 



32 

Almost all of the ancient authorities mention the super- 
natural in connection with the life of Caesar. The extra- 
ordinary prodigies and portents attending his crossing of the 
Rubicon and his assassination are recorded in more or less 
detail. Among the authors accessible to Shakespeare, Ovid 
was available in the translation of the Metamorphoses made 
by Arthur Golding in 1567 and several times reprinted before 
1600. Appian had been translated in 1578, while Marlowe's 
translation of Lucan's first book, while it remained unpublished 
till 1600 (after the first performance of "Julius Caesar"),* 
may have been know to the dramatist in manuscript. But 
the substance of Lucan's account was accessible in Lydgate's 
translation of Boccaccio's "De Casibus Virorum Illustrium." 
While Lucan mentions only the omens preceding Caesar's 
entry into Rome at the beginning of the Civil Wars, his work 
was a favorite source for the matters mentioned. Neither 
Vergil's "Georgics", nor Suetonius' "Lives", had as yet been 
translated. 

The question of Shakespeare's classical learning does not 
concern us. The problem at issue is not whether the dramatist 
might have obtained his information directly from the ancient 
authors or through available translations. The following dis- 
cussion purposes to adduce the evidence in support of the 
contention that Pescetti was the source of most, if not all, of 
the non-Plutarchian matter included by the dramatist in his 
handling of the supernatural. 

That Shakespeare could not have built up his recital from 
an imaginative transformation of Plutarch's hints seems 
precluded by an examination of the various sources already 
mentioned. These contain the substance of the non-Plu- 
tarchian matter; it remains to establish Pescetti's claims 
against this evidence. 

While there is a striking agreement as a whole in the various 
accounts of the classic writers, no single one contains all the 
omens recorded by Shakespeare. Pescetti, however, not only 

* In an account of a visit to London written by Thomas Platter, a merchant 
of Basle, he mentions a performance of "Julius Caesar," Sept. 21, 1599. 
(Ency. Brit., XI. ed., Art. Shakespeare.) 



33 

has the most comprehensive extant record but he accompanies 
his account with individual touches which seem reflected in 
Shakespeare's subsequent treatment. 

An examination of the portents mentioned by Shakespeare 
reveals the following which can be traced to Plutarch: the 
flaming hand; the men all in fire walking up and down; the 
bird of night at noon-day hooting and shrieking in the market 
place; the beast without a heart; the comet. In addition we 
have the following not indicated by the biographer: the tre- 
mendous storm; the earthquake; the raging seas referred to 
by Casca ; the wild beasts roaming the streets ; the civil strife 
in the heavens; the dead leaving their sepulchres; the battle 
in the clouds. 

Taking the earthquake first, a comparison of the available 
sources reveals the following: Casca says to Cicero, 

"Are you not moved when all the sway of earth, 
Shakes like a thing unfirm?" 

Vergil mentions the earthquakes in the Alps and the openings 
of the earth as portents of Caesar's death.* Lucanf says 
"The Alps shook off their ancient snows," while LydgateJ has 

" Earthquaues sodayne and terrible 
Ouertourned castels up so doune." 

In Ovid we read, 

"And with an earthquake shaken was the towne."§ 

Pescetti mentions not only the earthquake, but he adds the 
violent upheaval of the seas, together with an individual touch 
peculiar to him alone which seems reflected in Shakespeare's 
treatment. 

* See "Georgics," Book I., lines 463-488, for Vergil's account of the omens. 

t Lucan's account is found in the Pharsalia, Bk. I., lines 523-583; Ovid's 
in the Metamorphoses, Bk. XV., lines 783-798. 

t Lydgate's "Fall of Princes," Boke Sixte, Chap. XL, Leaf CXLVL, Edition 
of 1558 (see Bibliography). 

§ Translation by Golding, Ed. 1575. 



34 

"Nettun volto ha sossopra tutto il suo 
Immenso regno, e si gonfiato ha l'onde, 
Che parea, che de suoi confin volesse 
Uscir, e tutta subissar la terra; 
E quanti legni han questi di solcato 
II mar, tanti egli n'ha miseramente 
O trangugiati, o in duri scogli spinti. 
L'antica madre s'e piu volte anch'essa 
Scossa si, che parea, che'l grave pondo 
Dell' huom malvagio, che sostien, volesse 
Scuoter dal tergo suo, et in piu luoghi 
Per inghiottirlo ha il vasto seno aperto." — Pp. 75. 

The disturbance of the waters is not mentioned by Plutarch 
or Ovid. Casca does not specifically state that such a con- 
dition of affairs prevailed; he uses it as a comparison. But 
such a disturbance is indicated in Lucan. In Marlowe's* 
translation we read : 

"The ocean swelled as high as Spanish Calpe 
Or Atlas' head."t 

Lydgate has 

"Wyth nodes rage, hydious and horrible 
Neptunus dyd great distruction." 

Vergil speaks of the overflow of Eridanus, J 

"Eridanus, king of rivers, overflowed, whirling in mad eddy whole 
woods along and tore away the herds with their stalls over all the 
plains."§ 

Of all these possible sources Pescetti supplies the closest 
parallel; Vergil and Lydgate seem too remote for consider- 

* Works of Christopher Marlowe. Edited by Alexander Dyce. London, 
Wm. Pickering, 1850. 

t Tethys maioribus undis 

Hesperiam Calpen summumque impleuit Atlanta. Phar. Bk. I, L. 555. 
t Proluit insano contorquens vertice silvas 

Fluviorum rex Eridanus, camposque per omnes 

Cum stabulis armenta tulit. Geo. Bk. 1, L. 481 ff. Ed. Teubner. 
§ Translation by Davidson. Harper's Classical Library, New York, 1896. 



35 

ation in this connection. Were we to exclude Lucan on the 
ground that his account deals with a different period of Caesar's 
career, Pescetti's case would be still further strengthened, for 
the Italian contains not only the substance of Casca's out- 
burst, but there is a similarity in both style and sentiment. 
Where Pescetti says, 

"Nettun volto ha sossopra tutto il suo 
Immenso regno, e si gonfiato ha l'onde, 
Che parea, che de' suoi confin volesse 
Uscir, e tutta subissar la terra:" 

Shakespeare supplies the more poetic, 

"I have seen 
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam 
To be exalted with the threat'ning clouds." 

Again, the earthquake is mentioned in close connection with 
the raging of the waters, a feature missing in the other possible 
sources, while Casca's statement regarding the anger of the 
gods finds its counterpart not only in this portion of Pescetti's 
recital, but later where the dramatist, detailing other mani- 
festations of the gods' displeasure, says, 

"Giunon 

ha mostro, quanto 

Sia contra noi d'ira e di sdegno accessa," 

Such a condition of affairs is only faintly adumbrated in Ovid 
or Lucan. 

The slave with the burning hand is from Plutarch. The 
"hundred ghastly women transformed with their fear"' 
seems a specification of the terror inspired by the ghosts as 
recorded by Pescetti, 

"Si son viste grand' ombre, de' sepolcri 
Uscite, andar per la Citta vagando 
Nelle persone alto terror mettendo."* — P. 75. 

*Lydgate says: 

Another token pitous for here 

Which astonied many a proude Romayne 



36 

Plutarch mentions the men in fire, but says nothing of the 
fear inspired by them or by the ghosts. 

The "bird of night sitting at noon-day upon the market 
place, hooting and shrieking" was probably primarily derived 
from Plutarch's "solitary birds to be seen at noon days sitting 
in the great market place." The biographer calls them 
"solitary birds" and makes no reference to any hooting and 
shrieking. Vergil refers to the "presaging birds";* Ovid 
says that the Stygian owl gave omens of ill in a thousand 
places ;f Lydgate speaks of the " fowles at noonday" ; Marlowe, 
translating Lucan, that "Ominous birds defil'd the day." 
Pescetti, almost literally translating Ovid, has: 

" Da mille tetti udito s'e lo stigio 
Gufo versi cantar lugubri e mesti." 

He calls the bird the owl: Shakespeare refers to "the bird 
of night, hooting and shrieking." The Italian could here 
supply as much as any of the other non-Plutarchian sources. 

Calpurnia says, 

"Graves have yawned and yielded up their dead." 

Plutarch mentions the "spirits running up and down in the 
night"; Vergil, that "spectres strangely pale were seen under 
cloud of night. "f Ovid§ says: "And everywhere appeared 

Dead bodies dyd in the feldes appere 
Which in battayle had afore be slayne, 
Fro their tombes rising where they layne, 
* Obscenaeque canes importunaeque volucres 

Signa dabant. Georgics, Bk. I., line 470. 
f Tristia mille locis Stygius dedit omina bubo. Met., Bk. XV. Ed. 
Teubner. L. 791. 

This Golding quaintly translates, 

The Screeche owle sent from hell, 
Did with her tune unfortunate in every corner yell. 
J et simulacra modis pallentia miris 
Visa sub obscurum noctis. L. 477. Georg. I. 
§ umbrasque silentum 

Erravisse ferunt. L. 797. Met., XV. 



37 

ghastly spryghtes" (Golding). Lucan mentions the ghosts; 
so does Lydgate. But none of the above state that "graves 
have yawned and yielded up their dead." Pescetti supplies 
a close parallel : 

"Si son visti grand' ombre, de' sepolcri 
Uscite, andar per la citta vagando, 
Nelle persone alto terror mettendo." 

The battle in the clouds is mentioned by Ovid,* 

''For battells feyghting in the cloudes with crasshing armour flew, 
And dreadfull trumpets sownded in the ayre, and homes eeke blew." 

(Golding.) 

Lucan says: "Trumpets sounded and black night, amid the 
silent shades, sent forth an uproar as that with which the 
cohorts are mingled in combat."! I n Shakespeare the combat 
is closely associated with the drizzling of blood upon the 
Capitol. This is not found in Lucan, while Ovid, in a detached 
phrase, says: 

" It often rayned droppes of blood."t (Golding.) 

Shakespeare speaks of the "noise of battle hurtling in the 
air" and of the groans of the dying. Pescetti has all that 
Ovid mentions in this connection, closely connected and as- 
sociated with the shouts and groans in the heavens. This 
latter is not found in Ovid. 

"Giunon con spaventosi, orribil tuoni, 
Con spessi lampi, e fulmini tremendi, 
Con infauste comete, con istrane 
Pioggie di sangue, e grandini di pietre, 
Con sembianze di pugne, con orrendi 

* Arma ferunt inter nigras crepitantia nubes, 

Terribilesque tubas, auditaque cornua caelo. . Met., XV. LI. 783-4. 
t Insonuere tubae et quanto clamore cohortes 
Miscentur tantum nox astra silentibus umbris Phar., Bk. I., 578-80. 

Edidit. 
Vergil has, Armorum sonitum toto Germania caelo 
Audiit. Georg., Bk. I., I. 474. 
t Saepe inter nimbos guttae cecidere cruentae. Met., Bk. XV., 1. 788. 
Appian mentions the rain of blood in connection with the crossing of the Rubicon. 



38 

Strepiti di tamburi, e suon di trombe, 

Con alte grida, pianti, urli, e lamenti, 

Uditi nel suo regno ha mostro, quanto 

Sia contra noi d'ira, e di sdegno accesa." — P. 74. 

The comet is mentioned by Plutarch, but as occurring after 
Caesar's death. Lucan mentions comets; so do Vergil and 
Ovid. They are also in Pescetti. The omen of the beast 
without a heart is recorded by Plutarch, but not as occurring 
on the day of the assassination. Appian so has it and so it 
appears in Pescetti. 

From the foregoing it is evident that Shakespeare could 
have derived through Pescetti the omens not mentioned by 
Plutarch. The Italian seems to have made use of all the 
generally available authorities. There is, however, one omen 
mentioned by Shakespeare which is not found in any of the 
assumed sources. There is no mention of the lions which 
Casca saw, nor of the lioness which whelped in the street. 
Vergil speaks of the " ill-omened dogs" and of "cities resound- 
ing with the howling of wolves by night."* Lucanf supplies a 
closer parallel. 

" wild beasts were seen, 

Leaving the woods, lodge in the streets of Rome. "J 

Lions are not mentioned, but Lydgate, translating Boccaccio, 
who in turn derived from Lucan, has the following: 

"Lyons and wolves came down from the forest 
Wyth many other beastes sauagyne; 
Came to the cite, and some agayne kynde, 
Spake as do men in Bochas as I fynde."§ 

Pescetti goes as far as Ovid or Vergil. Following them, he 
writes, 

* ; et altae 

Per noctem resonare lupis ululantibus urbes. Geo., Bk. I., 1. 486. 
t Siluisque feras sub nocte relictis 

Audaces media posuisse cubilia Roma. Phar., Bk. I, 11. 559-60. 
J Translation by Marlowe. 
§ Falls of Princes, Bk. VI. 



39 

11 Per le piazze, alle case, a i tempi intorno, 
Notturni cani urlar si son uditi." — P. 75. 

Yet none of the sources quoted above makes mention of the 
lioness whelping in the streets. Lydgate affords the closest 
parallel, and was probably one of Shakespeare's sources unless 
we are willing to concede to the dramatist a far deeper and 
wider knowledge of the classics than even the most enthusiastic 
advocates of his learning have dared to maintain. The 
whelping of beasts is noted as ominous in Julius Obsequens;* 
but Shakespeare could hardly have derived from such an 
obscure authority. 

From the foregoing examination of the various portents and 
prodigies included in "Julius Caesar" it is evident that, ex- 
cluding those plainly derived from Plutarch, and the matter of 
the lions, Shakespeare could have obtained all the rest from 
Pescetti. Owing to his habitual method of manipulating 
and transforming material not directly found in his main 
source, it becomes exceedingly difficult definitely to fix the 
dramatist's obligations to his minor sources. The case under 
consideration is typical. It is certain that Plutarch did not 
furnish all the hints Shakespeare employed. There seems 
to be no good reason for denying him a knowledge of Ovid. 
He certainly was acquainted with Golding's translation. Nor 
can we fairly assume ignorance of such a mine of information 
as Lydgate's work furnishes. It is altogether probable that 
in the composition of the particular scenes discussed, Shake- 
speare employed a wider range of sources than has been 
credited. Nevertheless, while he might have built up his 
incidents from a selection from various authors, Pescetti's 
account, containing in its one hundred and three lines by far 
the most comprehensive extant account of the omens, set 
with an eye to dramatic effect in a tragedy dealing with the 
death of Caesar, and accompanied by touches not recorded 
elsewhere, formed the most convenient source for the dramatist. 

Besides, Shakespeare's whole handling of the supernatural 
element is reminiscent of Pescetti's use of the same material. 

* Julius Obsequens, CXV., mentioned by Sykes in op. cit. 



40 

The Italian sought to give his drama a portentous back- 
ground; Shakespeare succeeded in doing so in a manner which, 
however greatly superior dramatically, seems nevertheless 
but an extension of Pescetti's efforts. 

The evidence herein presented is cumulative; the case for 
Pescetti does not rest here. Not only could Shakespeare 
have derived from Pescetti the historical matter not found in 
Plutarch, but his treatment of certain original scenes in his 
drama bears a very close resemblance to the same scenes as 
they occur in "Cesare." This is particularly striking in 
portions of the Brutus-Cassius action. 



THE BRUTUS-CASSIUS SCENES 

Especially important for our purpose is the fact that 
Pescetti makes use of materials and situations not found in 
the historians but later used by Shakespeare. Of these 
perhaps the most significant is to be found in the conversation 
between Brutus and Cassius regarding Antony. This is one 
of the most striking parallels to be found in the play. In 
Pescetti, as later in Shakespeare, Cassius strenuously favors 
the killing of Antony along with Caesar, and the reasons he 
advances are almost exactly those found in Shakespeare. As 
in the latter's tragedy, Brutus allows his magnanimity to 
overbalance his prudence, so in Pescetti, Brutus uses almost 
the same arguments against Cassius' plan as he uses in Shake- 
speare's work. 

Plutarch nowhere specifically states that Cassius opposed 
Antony's entry into the conspiracy, or suggested his death.* 
Thus in the life of Marcus Antonius we read: "This was a 
good encouragement for Brutus and Cassius to conspire his 
death, who fell into a consort with their trustiest friends, to 
execute their enterprise, but yet stood doubtful whether they 
should make Antonius privy to it or not. All the rest liked 
of it, saving Trebonius only. He told them that, when they 
rode to meet Caesar on his return out of Spain, Antony and 
he always keeping company, and lying together by the way, 
he felt his mind afar off; but Antonius finding his meaning, 
would hearken no more unto it, and yet notwithstanding, 
never made Caesar acquainted with this talk, but had faith- 
fully kept it to himself. After that, they consulted whether 
they should kill Antonius with Caesar. But Brutus would 
in nowise consent to it, saying, that venturing on such an 
enterprise as that, for the maintenance of law and justice, 
it ought to be clear from all villany."t In the life of Marcus 

* Neither does Appian. 

t Shakespeare's Plutarch. Ed. by W. W. Skeat, page 164. 

4i 



42 

Brutus, Plutarch writes: "For it was set down and agreed 
between them, that they should kill no man but Caesar only, 
and should entreat all the rest to look to defend their liberty. 
All the conspirators, but Brutus,* determining upon this 
matter, thought it good also to kill Antonius, because he was 
a wicked man, and that in nature favored tyranny; besides, 
also, for he was in great estimation with soldiers, having 
been conversant of long time amongst them; and especially 
having a mind bent to great enterprises, he was also of great 
authority at that time, being Consul with Caesar. But 
Brutus would not agree to it. First, for that he said it was 
not honest; secondly, because he told them that there was 
hope of change in him. For he did not mistrust but that 
Antonius, being a noble-minded and courageous man (when 
he should know that Caesar was dead), would willingly help 
his country to recover her liberty, having them an example 
unto him to follow their courage and virtue. "f 

In Pescetti the conspiracy has been hatched before the play 
begins, as is evident from the following lines. Thus Cassius, 
finding Brutus in the gloom of early morning apostrophizing 
the shade of Pompey, asks: 

"Qual pensier ti molesta, e si per tempo 
Abbandonar ti fa le molli piume?" — P. 15. 

to which Brutus replies, 

"Oggi, Cassio, disposto ho di dar fine 
A quel, che gia per noi s'e divisato." — P. 16. 

namely, the death of the tyrant. Brutus and Cassius enter 
the temple to pray for the success of their enterprise, while the 
Priest, and then the Chorus holds the stage. On their re- 
appearance immediately thereafter, the two conspirators 
discuss the details of the assassination. I will quote the entire 
dialogue relating to Antony. 

*Appian says: "Some of the Conspirators" (1578 Ed.). 
Plutarch, page 119. Skeat. 



43 



Cas. — Parmi d'avere scorto in Marcantonio 
Disio di dominar: percio s'in tutto 
Vogliam la patria assicurar, spegniamo 
Anco lui col Tiranno, e fuor de gli occhi 
Tragghiamci questo stecco, che potrebbe, 
Quando che sia, non poca briga darne. 
Che tu sai ben, quanto li siano amici 
I veterani, e quanto acconcio ei sia 
Gli animi a concitar del volgo insano. 

Bru. — S'ad altri, oltre al Tiranno, darem morte, 
Si stimera dal volgo, che le cose 
Sempre stravolge, e falsamente espone, 
Che non disio di liberar la patria, 
Ma privato odio, e brama di vendetta 
A cid sospinti n'abbia, e di quell'opra, 
Onde da noi s'attende eterna fama, 
N'acquisterem vergogna, e biasmo eterno: 
E dove nome di pieta cerchiamo, 
Sarem del titol d'empieta notati; 
Ne percio a noi gran fatto avrem giovato; 
Che non e Marcantonio huom, di cui deggia 
Altri temer gran fatto, un'huomo al ventre 
Dedito, e al sonno, e ne' piacer venerei, 
Nelle dissolutioni, e nell'ebbrezze 
Snervato, e rotto osara prender l'arme 
Contra color, che nulla ebber giammai 
Amicizia con l'ozio, o col piacere, 
Ma tutta trapassar lor vita in duri 
Studi et in faticosi aspri esercizi? 
E'l veder a che fin pervengan quelli, 
Ch'altrui cercan di tor la libertade, 
E la recente morte del Tiranno 
Spaventarallo in guisa, che s'in lui 
Fosse di dominar alcun disio 
Subito spegnerassi. Cas. — E Marcantonio 
Dedito certo all'ozio, et ai piaceri, 
Ma di lui per contrario non si trova 
Altri piu forte, e coraggioso, e delle 
Fatiche, e de'disagi paziente, 
Quando e'fa d'uopo; onde si poca stima 
Non e da far di lui: di cid che dica 



44 

II volgo, il volgo sciocco, ben dovemo 

Noi poco conto far, che chi si muove 

Per le voci del volgo, e piu del volgo 

Lieve, e incostante. Br. In somma e'non si deve 

Punir, chi non ha errato, e a me non basta 

L'animo di dar morte a chi nocciuto 

Non m'ha, ne fatto ingiuria. Cas. A me piu saggio 

Sembra colui che'l suo nemico uccide 

Pria, che l'offenda, che colui, che dopo 

Ch'e stato offeso, vendica l'ingiuria. 

Bru. — Non il pensier, ma l'opra punir vuolsi; 
Oltra, che chi m'accerta, ch'ei tal mente 
Abbia qual dici? Chi puo dentro il petto, 
Suo penetrar? e cid, che vi nasconde, 
Veder? Gli uman pensier sol Giove intende. 

Cas. — Bruto, tu se' troppo pietoso: voglia 
II Ciel, che questa tua pieta non sia 
Un giorno a noi crudel. Nel risanare 
Dall'ulcere nascenti i corpi il ferro, 
E'l fuoco oprar convien, che tu ben sai, 
Che '1 medico pietoso infistolisce 
La piaga, e spesso tutto il corpo infetta. 

Bru. — Col troncar della testa all'altre membra 
Troncasi ogni vigore, ogni possanza. 

Cas. — Nell' Idra ov'una testa si troncava, 
Ivi ne rinascean subito sette. 

Bru. — Pur alia fine anch'ella estinta giacque. 

Cas. — Si, ma da un figlio dell'eterno Giove. 
Bru. — Chiunque ama virtu, figlio e di Giove; 

Ma ci6 lasciam da parte, et ogni nostro 

Pensier intorno si raggiri, e volga 

Alia morte di Giulio.* — Pp. 25-27. 

* This scene goes far beyond Muret and Grevin. In Muretus the scene 
is confined to the following lines: 
Cass. — 

Unus mihi nunc scrupulus restat: 

Unane opera confodiendum 

Cum Caesare ipso censeas Antonium? 



45 

In Shakespeare we have the following: 

Dec. — Shall no man else be touched but only Caesar? 

Cas. — Decius, well urged: I think it is not meet, 
Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar, 
Should outlive Caesar: we shall find of him 
A shrewd contriver; and you know his means, 
If he improve them, may well stretch so far 
As to annoy us all : which to prevent, 
Let Antony and Caesar fall together. 

Bru. — Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, 
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, 
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; 
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: 
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. 
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar, 

Bru. — Jam saepe dixi, id esse consilium mihi, 

Salvis perimere civibus tyrannida. 
Cass. — Perimatur ergo ab infimis radicibus, 

Ne quando post hac caesa rursum pullulet. 
Bru. — Latet sub uno tota radix corpore. 
Cass. — Itan' videtur? amplius nil proloquar. 

Tibi pareatur; te sequimur omnes ducem. 

Vide modo, ut, cum opus erit, adsis. Brut, videro. Lines 184 ft. 
Grevin differs but slightly. Cassius says: 

Mais j'ay je ne scay quoy qui mi detient pensif. 

N'estes vous pas d'advis que de force pareille 

Nous abordions Antoine, a fin qu'il ne resveille, 

L'orgueil de ce Tyran en ses nouveaux amis? 
M. Brute. 

Je vous ay tousjours diet que ce n'est mon advis. 
Cassius. 

Si seroit-ce bien faict, arrachans la racine, 

Avecque le gros tronc de tout ceste vermine, 

De peur qu'ell' ne revive, ou que le pied laisse, 

Ne resemble celuy qui l'auroit devance. 
M. Brute. 

C'est assez, soyez prest, pendant que je regarde. 

Que chascun de mes gens se tienne sur sa garde. Lines 508 ff. 
Cassius exults in the prospect of liberty and the scene closes. It is curious 
to remark the simile regarding Antony's relations to Caesar which runs through 
Muretus, Grevin, Pescetti and Shakespeare. In all Caesar is likened to a 
trunk of which Antony is simply an appendage. 



4 6 

And in the spirit of men there is no blood : 
O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit, 
And not dismember Caesar! But, alas, 
Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends, 
Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; 
Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods, 
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds ; 
And let our hearts, as subtle masters do, 
Stir up their servants to an act of rage 
And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make 
Our purpose necessary and not envious: 
Which so appearing to the common eyes, 
We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers. 
And for Mark Antony, think not of him; 
For he can do no more than Caesar's arm 
When Caesar's head is off. 

Cas. — Yet I fear him, 

For in the ingrafted love he bears to Caesar — 

Bru. — Alas! good Cassius, do not think of him: 
If he love Caesar, all that he can do 
Is to himself, take thought, and die for Caesar; 
And that were much he should, for he is given 
To sports, to wildness and much company. 

Treb. — There is no fear in him ; let him not die ; 

For he will live and laugh at this hereafter. 

—II., i, 11. I54-I9I. 

The statements in the above quotation which can, how- 
ever faintly, be traced to Plutarch, are the love of Antony for 
Caesar, his power both as Consul and general, his ambitious 
mind, and, at some length, his loose manner of living. f But 
nowhere does the biographer mention this last among the 
reasons urged by Brutus for his salvation, nor that he was but a 
"limb of Caesar." Nor, in the handling of this scene by 
either Pescetti or Shakespeare do we find Brutus considering 
Antony a noble-minded man, who, once Caesar were dead, 
would gladly help his country regain her liberty. 

♦Julius Caesar, 11, 1, 11. 154-191. 

t Particularly in "Marcus Antonius," page 161. 



47 

The reasons urged by Cassius are in substance exactly the 
same in Pescetti as in Shakespeare. They are either entirely 
absent, or only faintly indicated in scattered hints throughout 
Plutarch or Appian. The similarity is at times almost 
verbal. Thus Cassius, in urging the death of Antony says: 

E fuor degli occhi 
Tragghiamci questo stecco, che potrebbe, 
Quando che sia, non poca briga darne. 

Translated this reads, 

And from our eyes 
Let us pluck this thorn, which might, 
Some time or other, cause us no little annoyance. 

Shakespeare makes Cassius exclaim, 

And you know his means 
If he improve them, may well stretch so far 
As to annoy us all. 

Sir William Alexander in his "Tragedy of Julius Caesar" 
(circa 1604-7), m the course of the same debate, puts the 
following in the mouth of Cassius: 

Well Brutus, I protest against my will 
From this black cloud, whatever tempest fall, 
That mercy but most cruelly doth kill, 
Which saves one, who once may plague us all. 
Works of Stirling. Edition 1870, Glasgow, p. 280. 

While it is still to be proved that Alexander borrowed any- 
thing from Shakespeare, it is certain, as will be shown later,* 
that he not only followed Grevin, but also derived many hints 
from Pescetti. Although Plutarch was a common source for 
all three authors, it is certainly remarkable to find them all, 
in the same scene, using exactly the same term to characterize 
the threatened activity of Antony. Pescetti, Shakespeare, 
and Alexander agree in making Cassius urge the conspirators 
to kill him, for fear, that if spared, he might annoy them all. 

* Page 114 et seq. 



4 8 



Cassius says further: 



We shall find of him 

A shrewd contriver; 

And in a later scene when Brutus says of Antony, 

"I know that we shall have him well to friend," 

Cassius replies, 

" I wish we may. But yet have I a mind 
That fears him much; and my misgiving still 
Falls shrewdly to the purpose" (Act III., Sc. I, 11. 144-147). 

And again, in the scene between Brutus and Cassius regarding 
the former's resolve to permit Antony to speak at Caesar's 
funeral, Cassius urges: 

Brutus, a word with you, 
(Aside to Bru.) You know not what you do: do not consent 
That Antony speak in his funeral : 
Know you how much the people may be moved 
By that which he will utter? — III., Sc. 1, 11. 232-236. 

All this is very similar to Cassius' argument: 

"Che tu sai ben, quanto li siano amici 

I veterani, e quanto acconcio ei sia 
Gli animi a concitar del volgo insano." 

As Brutus cannot be persuaded, Cassius adds: 

"I know not what may fall; I like it not. — III., I, 1. 244. 

In Pescetti, his reply to Brutus' magnanimous but short- 
sighted attitude is : 

"Bruto, tu se' troppo pietoso: voglia 

II Ciel, che questa tua pieta non sia 
Un giorno a noi crudel." 

All that Plutarch gives us of Brutus' counter-arguments is 
as follows: 

"First, for he said it was not honest; secondly, because he told 
them that there was hope of change in him."* 

* "Marcus Antonius," p. 119. Skeat. 



49 

Furthermore, we read: 

"But Brutus would in nowise consent to it, saying, that venturing 
on such an enterprise as that, for the maintenance of law and justice, 
it ought to be clear from all villany."* 

In Pescetti, Brutus says: 

"S'ad altri, oltre al Tiranno, darem morte, 
Si stimera dal volgo, che le cose 
Sempre stravolge, e falsamente espone, 
Che non disio di liberar la patria, 
Ma privato odio, e brama di vendetta 
A cid sospinti n'abbia, e di quell'opra, 
Onde da noi s'attende eterna fama, 
N'acquisterem vergogna, e biasmo eterno; 
E dove nome di pieta cerchiamo 
Sarem del titol d'empieta notati: 
Ne percid a noi gran fatto avrem giovato.f 

Note his solicitude for the opinions of the people. Witness 
the parallelism, almost verbal at times, between the above 
and Shakespeare's treatment. 

" This shall make 

Our purpose necessary and not envious; 
Which so appearing to the common eyes, 
We shall be called purgers, not murderers." 

Again in Pescetti: 

Bru. — " In somma e' non si deve 

Punir, chi non ha errato, e a me non basta 
L'animo di dar morte a chi nocciuto 
Non m'ha, ne fatto ingiuria. 

* "Marcus Antonius," p. 164. Skeat. 

t Pescetti throughout this scene follows Appian rather than Plutarch. 
Appian says: "Some thought that Antony ought to be killed also because he 
was consul with Caesar, and was his most powerful friend, and the one of the 
most repute with the army; but Brutus said that they would win the glory of 
tyrannicide from the death of Caesar alone, because that would be the killing 
of a king. If they should kill his friends also, the deed would be imputed to 
private enmity and to the Pompeian faction." (Civil Wars, Bk. II, Ch. XVI., 
White's Trans.) 



50 

Col troncar della testa all'altre membra 
Troncasi ogni vigor, ogni possanza."* 

Compare this with Shakespeare: 

Bru. — "Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius, 
To cut the head off and then hack the limbs, 
Like wrath in death and envy afterwards; 
For Antony is but a limb of Caesar: 
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. 

And as for Mark Antony, think not of him, 
For he can do no more than Caesar's arm 
When Caesar's head is off." 

Again Pescetti's Brutus says: 

Bru. — "Che non e Marcantonio huom di cui deggia 
Altri temer gran fatto, un'huom al ventre 
Dedito, e al sonno, e ne' piacer venerei 
Nelle dissolutioni, e nell'ebbrezze 
Snervato, e rotto osara prender l'arme 
Contra color, che nulla ebber giammai 
Amicizia con l'ozio, e col piacere." 

Thus in Shakespeare : 

Bru. — "And that were much he should, for he is given 
To sports, wildness and much company. "f 

Not only are these scenes in both dramatists almost 
exactly parallel in sentiment, but the abruptness of the con- 
clusion and the sequence of the following scenes are noteworthy. 
Pescetti dismisses the idea thus : 

Bru. — "Chiunque ama virtu, figlio e di Giove; 
Ma cio lasciam da parte, e ogni nostro 
Pensier intorno si raggiri, e volga 
Alia morte di Giulio." — P. 27. 

In Shakespeare, Trebonius, whom Plutarch represents as 
opposing Antony's entry into the conspiracy, lightly dismisses 
the subject: 

* This parallel is noted by Ayres (in work cited before), 
t Noted by Ayres. 



5i 

Treb. — " There is no fear in him; let him not die; 

For he will live and laugh at this hereafter." — II., i, 11. 190-92. 

It is peculiar that in both Pescetti and Shakespeare the 
sequence of the immediately following scenes is the same. In 
the former Brutus proceeds to detail the plans for Caesar's 
assassination, and as he finishes, Portia enters. He concludes: 

"Ma giamo ad informar del tutto gli altri, 
Accid gli spirti destino, e le forze, 
Et apparecchin l'arme all'alta impresa. — P. 28. 

This is closely followed by the entry of Portia. In Shake- 
speare the conspirators discuss ways and means of getting 
Caesar to the Capitol. 

Towards the conclusion we have: 

Cas. — "The morning comes upon's: we'll leave you, Brutus: 
And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember 
What you have said and show yourselves true Romans." 

— II., I, 221. 

Soon after Portia enters. It is also noteworthy that Brutus 
and Cassius in both plays perfect their plans in the early 
morning. There is no warrant for this in Plutarch or Appian. 

Another striking parallel in situation and treatment is to be 
found in the behavior of the conspirators during the con- 
versation of Lenate (Popilius Lena) with Caesar immediately 
preceding the murder. This is Plutarch's* account: "Another 
Senator, called Popilius Lena, after he had saluted Brutus 
more friendly than he was wont to do, he rounded softly in 
their ears, and told them : ' I pray the gods you may go through 
with that you have taken in hand; but withal dispatch, I 
reade you, for your enterprise is bewrayed.' When he had 
said, he presently departed from them, and left them both 
afraid that their conspiracy would out . . . When Caesar 
came out of his litter, Popilius Lena (that had talked before 
with Brutus and Cassius, and had prayed the gods they might 
bring their enterprise to pass) went unto Caesar, and kept 
him a long time with a talk. Caesar gave good ear unto him: 

* Substantially the same in Appian. 



52 

wherefore the conspirators (if so they should be called) not 
hearing what he said to Caesar, but conjecturing by that he 
had told them a little while before that his talk was none other 
than the very discovery of their conspiracy, they were afraid 
every man of them; and, one looking in another's face, it 
was easy to see that they were of a mind, that it was no tarrying 
for them till they were apprehended, but rather that they 
should kill themselves with their own hands. And when Cas- 
sius and certain other clapped their hands on their swords 
under their gowns to draw them, Brutus, marking the counte- 
nance and gesture of Lena, and considering that he did use 
himself rather like an humble and earnest suitor than like an 
accuser, he said nothing to his companions (because there were 
many amongst them that were not of the conspiracy) but with 
a pleasant countenance encouraged Cassius. And immedi- 
ately after Lena went from Caesar, and kissed his hand; 
which showed plainly that it was for some matter concerning 
himself that he had held him so long in talk."* 

Note that Plutarch, outside of Lena's remark, cites no 
sayings of the conspirators, but describes their demeanor 
only. Appian does likewise. Pescetti follows his account 
faithfully, but in spirit very similar to Shakespeare's treat- 
ment. In Pescetti, Caesar is accosted by Lena, who begs a 
favor for a friend. Their conversation is entirely too lengthy 
for dramatic effectiveness. Previous to this episode, Brutus, 
at the beginning of the fourth act, confides to Cassius his 
belief that the conspiracy will be discovered, if indeed it has 
not already been revealed to Caesar. Among other state- 
ments he says: 

"Senza sangue rimasi dianzi, quando 
Ci s'appresso Lenate, et in disparte 
Trattine, nell'orecchia fin felice 
All'impresa auguronne, e dubitai, 
Che gia non fosse discoperto il tutto." — P. 88. 

In the scene between Lenate and Caesar, Cassius, marking the 
former's approach to the Dictator, says, 

♦Marcus Brutus, p. 117-118. 



53 

"Bruto, noi siam spediti; ecco Lenate 
Che ragiona con Cesare in secreto." — P. 107. 

And then following: 

Bru. — Questo ch'importa a noi? 

Cas. — Come ch'importa? 

Non sai, se la congiura gli e palese? 

Bru. — T'intendo: ahi che valor, dove fortuna 
S'opponga, nulla val. Stiam preparati, 
Per proveder, se fia bisogno, al nostro 
Scampo, e alia liberta farci la strada, 
Se non possiam con altro, col passarci 
Co'pugnali 1'un l'altro il fianco, o'l petto." — P. 107. 

Lenate and Caesar continue their talk. Cassius' fears are 
increasing. He says, 

"Gli occhi teniamo intenti, e se fa cenno 
Che presi siam, pria che ci leghi alcuno, 
Sciogliam noi l'alma de' corporei lacci." — P. 107. 

Near the end of the conversation Brutus says, 

" Respira, 6 Cassio, che li parla d'altro, 
Per quel, che di qui posso dal sembiante 
Comprender, e da gesti." — P. 109. 

After Lenate leaves Caesar, Cassius, turning to the former, 
exclaims, 

"M'e ritornata l'anima nel corpo. 
II tuo parlar con Cesare n'ha messo, 
Lenate, in gran spavento." 

To which Lenate replies, 

"Dubitando 
Delia mia fede, avete dubitato, 
Ch'un muto parli. Sievi pure il cielo 
Propizio, com'io vi saro fedele." 

This entire scene, as others in Pescetti, make us regret 
that his slavish subservience to his models caused him to 



54 

smother his dramatic ability in an avalanche of verbiage. 
He shows, in spite of many omissions, a true perception of 
the dramatic possibilities of his material. Had he only been 
able to condense his work by almost three-quarters, his 
tragedy would rank high as a representative of its type. 
Shakespeare uses the same material, takes out his few 
ounces of gold, and casts away the tons of dross. Nothing 
that can impede the swiftly approaching climax is toler- 
ated, yet everything necessary to heighten the suspense is 
introduced. 

Pop. — I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive. 

Cas. — What enterprise, Popilius? 
Pop. — Fare you well 

(Advances to Caesar) 

Bru. — What said Popilius Lena? 
Cas. — He wished to-day our enterprise might thrive. 
I fear our purpose is discovered. 

Bru. — Look, how he makes to Caesar: mark him. 

Cas. — Casea, 

Be sudden, for we fear prevention. 
Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known, 
Cassius, or Caesar never shall turn back, 
For I will slay myself. 

Bru. — Cassius, be constant : 

Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes; 

For, look he smiles, and Caesar doth not change.* 

These scenes are not only significant from a critical stand- 
point; they are historically of prime importance. In Muretus 
and Grevin the matter of Antony's entry into the conspiracy 
is confined to a few lines; Pescetti is the first to give it more 
importance and the first to employ material which later 
reappears in Shakespeare's work. The Popilius Lena scene 
is even more important, for it is in "Cesare" that we find the 
first dramatic treatment of this significant episode. Shake- 

* J. C, Act. III., Sc. i, 11. 14-27. 



55 

speare's treatment almost exactly parallels the work of his 
humble predecessor. 

Pescetti seemed well aware of the dramatic value of suspense. 
In "Julius Caesar", Shakespeare's use of this device is much 
commended, but in this particular play he seems to have been 
anticipated by the Italian. The preceding scene is not the 
only one wherein it is employed by Pescetti. Some time 
before, D. Brutus joins Cassius and M. Brutus, deploring 
the perversity of fortune.* He fears that Caesar has scented 
the conspiracy and will not attend that day's session of the 
Senate. The introduction of this matter at this time strongly 
resembles Shakespeare's use of the same device, under the 
same circumstances. Cassius says to D. Brutus: 

Cas. — Bruto tu se turbato. 
D. B. — E n'ho cagione. 

Cas. — Che c'e? 
D. B. — S'appon fortuna, a desir nostri. 

Cas. — 

" Ma che cosa incontrat'e, ch'interrompe 
I nostri alti disegni? 

D. B. — S'e pentito 

D'ir in Senato Cesar, e dimane 

Come dianzi vi dissi, prende a guardia, 

Del corpo suo cinquanta huomini eletti. 

Et 6 pur, che non abbia qualche cosa 

Delia congiura, e dell' insidie udito." — Pp. 92-93. 

In Shakespeare we read: 

Cas. — " But it is doubtful yet 

Whether Caesar will come forth to-day or no; 

For he is superstitious grown of late, 

Quite from the main opinion he held once 

Of fantasy, of dreams and ceremonies. 

It may be these apparent prodigies, 

The unaccustomed terror of this night, 

And the persuasion of his augurers, 

May hold him from the Capitol to-day." Act II., 1, 1. 194 ff. 

* P. 91 ff. 



56 

In both dramas the object is the same; to awaken doubts 
in the spectators' minds as to the ultimate success of the 
plotters and to awaken an interest in the means whereby the 
conspirators succeed in overcoming Caesar's suspicion. 
The difference in content in the parallels seems due to the 
fact that while Pescetti follows Appian, Shakespeare follows 
Plutarch. 



THE CHARACTER OF CAESAR 

Of all Shakespeare's portraits, there are few which have so 
puzzled his critics as that of Julius Caesar. Their ingenuity 
has been taxed to the utmost to account for a characterization 
so at variance with historical fact, and many have been the 
theories advanced in explanation. It is not my purpose to 
detail this controversy. The facts are commonplaces of 
Shakespearian study. Neither is it necessary to set forth all 
the many and various tributes wherein Shakespeare, in his 
other works, and in "Julius Caesar" itself, gives ample evidence 
of his appreciation of Caesar's true greatness. What I do 
purpose to show is the marked similarity between the con- 
ception of Caesar's character in Shakespeare and that found 
in Pescetti. 

It must be understood that I employ the term characteriza- 
tion as applied to Pescetti 's dramatis personae for lack of a 
better term. In his type of the drama very little of the char- 
acterization is brought out by the clash of conflict, although, 
as I have before pointed out, there are passages in "Cesare" 
in which this is to some extent true. We gain our conception 
of character more through a recital of the characteristics or 
traits of his persons, rather than through a revelation in action. 

To Shakespeare, therefore, "Cesare" would not have ap- 
pealed as a drama ; but as a history or a recital of the feelings 
animating various persons during certain situations, it had 
its attractions. I purpose to show in just what manner 
Shakespeare in his delineation of Caesar may have availed 
himself of the material provided by this long forgotten work. 

It has been claimed, and in my opinion, erroneously, that 
Shakespeare's peculiar characterization of his titular hero was 
due to his lack of classical knowledge. Surely such a charge 
can not hold against the Veronese rhetorician, whose livelihood 
depended on his classical training, and who did not hesitate 
to dispute with Tasso. Yet his characterization brings into 

57 



58 

relief many of those features which have in Shakespeare's 
portrait so aroused the surprise and chagrin of critics. 

Professor Harry Morgan Ayres* traces these peculiarities 
in Shakespeare's delineation of his titular character to the 
influence of a Renaissance idea of Caesar which had its ulti- 
mate source in the Hercules Oetoeus of Seneca, found its way 
into the Renaissance drama through Muretus, and had become 
traditional in Shakespeare's time. No claim is advanced of 
any direct relation of "Julius Caesar" to preceding versions, 
but the similarity in certain particulars existing between the 
various characterizations of Caesar is emphasized. That 
Grevin's portrait should be markedly similar to that of 
Muretus is but natural in view of the former's open plagiarism. 
Pescetti also owes much to the noted humanist. The latter 
made Caesar a grandiloquent braggart. Pescetti, following 
his example, makes Caesar's boastfulness a prominent trait of 
his character. Yet neither Muretus nor Grevin emphasizes 
Caesar's vacillation, nor this indecision, which, seemingly 
through the Italian's drama, found its way later into Shake- 
speare's portrait. 

While it is quite possible that the traditional conception of 
Caesar supposedly prevalent in Shakespeare's time influenced 
his peculiar delination of the Dictator, there is apparently no 
good reason for excluding the possibility that the dramatist's 
notion of his titular hero's traditional character was confirmed 
by an examination of Pescetti's work, if indeed he did not 
derive from the latter all the hints supposedly due to the 
tradition fixed by Muretus. 

Like Shakespeare, Pescetti is not lacking in appreciation 
of Caesar's greatness; of his courage, patriotism, magnanimity. 
Thus Cassius says to Brutus, 

"Tu sai, ch'egli e feroce, e ne' perigli 
Non si sgomenta punto, anzi diviene 
Allor piu ardito, e coraggioso, quando 
Maggior vede il periglio."t 

* In the monograph to which reference has already been made. 
t Page 24. See later chapter on Brutus. 



59 

In his dedication, the highest compliment he can pay to 
Alfonso d'Este is to number the mighty Julius among his 
ancestors. In the prologue his approaching death troubles 
the gods, and Jove promises for him immortality among the 
celestials as the only fitting reward for his merit, while ruin 
and destruction await his assassins. In the play the First 
Messenger refers to him as "huom divino."* The Chorus 
sings his praises: 

"Cosl dunque 
Quei, che pur dianzi un folgor fu di guerra, 
Un' Achille, un Alcide di possanza, 
Un' Ulisse di senno, e d'accortezza, 
Un Ciro, un Alessandro d'ardimento, 
Di magnaminitA, di cortesia, 
Estinto giace miserabilmente."— P. 127. 

Criticism cannot be too guarded in considering as evidence 
of personal bias the words of an author's character, but cu- 
mulative evidence is certainly not without its influence. The 
chorus later in the play refers to Caesar again, and as 

"Del piu saggio, e piu forte 
Huom ch'arme unqua vestisse."* — P. 131. 

The Chorus of Soldiers towards the close of the play sings his 
praise. Decimus Brutus, trying to persuade Caesar, runs the 
whole gamut of the latter's deeds. 

Nor does Pescetti, any more than Shakespeare, begrudge 
him credit for his courtesy and magnanimity. Regarding 
this trait, Professor MacCallum calls particular attention 
to the passage in "Julius Caesar " wherein Artemidorus urges 
the consideration of his petition: 

Art. — Hail, Caesar! read this schedule. 

Dec. — Trebonius doth desire you to o'er-read, 

At your best leisure, this his humble suit. 

* Compare Antony's outburst: 

Thou art the ruins of the noblest man 

That ever lived in the tide of times. J. C. III., 1, 257-58. 



6o 

Art. — Caesar, read mine first; for mine's a suit 

That touches Caesar nearer: read it, great Caesar. 
Caes. — What touches us ourself shall be last served. — III., I, 3-8. 

This is nowhere suggested in Plutarch. It is, indeed, quite 
easy to regard this magnanimous action as the caprice of a 
man so intoxicated by success that he has lost all sense of 
social perspective; a real Colossus, for whom the ordinary 
motives of men seem too insignificant for his semi-divine 
being. Pescetti's Caesar leaves no room for the exercise of 
surmise. In the scene between Lenate and the Dictator, 
Caesar is courteous and magnanimous beyond criticism. 
Lenate felicitates Caesar, who replies: 

" E te, Lenate, a pien contento renda. 
Che chiedi? in che pu6 Cesare, Lenate 
Servir? in c'ha dell' opra sua bisogno? — P. 106. 

Lenate praises Caesar's courtesy, and Caesar tells him to name 
his suit, for he will deny him nothing. Lenate begs a military 
appointment for Quinto Fulvio. Caesar says: 

"A lor di soddisfarti io ti prometto, 
Et in soddisfacendoti maggiore 
Ricevero, che non fard servigio, 
Ch'a somma grazia, e a singular favore 
D'esser da ta servito mi rech'io: 
E se, qual tu me lo dipingi, fia, 
Come fia veramente, che Lenate 
S6, che non mente, i premi all' opre uguali 
Andranno, e sara Cesare con lui 
Quel, che stat' e con gli altri." 

At the conclusion of this scene he remarks, 

"Huom, che d'umanita si spogli, indegno 
Stim' io del nome d'huomo, e fu piu degno 
Di ruggir fra Leon, fremer fra gli Orsi, 
Urlar fra i Lupi, e sibilar fra i Serpi 
Nelle selve, negli antri, e nelle grotte, 
Che formar nelle terre umani accenti." — Ces., pp. 106-110. 

This, while rather declamatory, rings true. 



6i 

Still, in spite of this consideration of Caesar's nobler traits, 
Pescetti so emphasizes his weaknesses that the total impression 
we receive from his characterization is not at all in keeping 
with that which we derive from the Caesar of history. True, 
Pescetti does not mention the Dictator's physical failings; 
but the same pride, the same thrasonical boastfulness, the 
same vacillation are to be found in both characterizations 
treated in a manner singularly similar. 

Caesar, on his first appearance, while he displays traits 
which apparently are hard to reconcile with his future state- 
ments, strikes one note which predominates throughout; 
that of boastfulness. His very first words are: 

" Magnifica, superba, e veramente 
Qual darsi ad un Pontefice conviene, 
La cena fu, che Lepido iersera 
Ne die. . . ."—P. 62. 

His sense of his own importance, and of the honors due to 
his position, is evident. He comments philosophically upon 
the delights of conversation around the banqueting board. 
This gives Antony an opportunity to dilate upon the muta- 
bility of human fortune. Caesar replies, 

"Quest' instability, quest' inconstanza 
Delle cose mondane, a me ricorda, 
Che lo stato presente, in che m' ha posto, 
O fortuna, 6 valor, non mi prometta 
Perpetuo, ma ch' io creda, e stia sicuro, 
Che si debba mutar, quando, che sia." — P. 66. 

It must be borne in mind that Caesar is talking to an 
intimate friend and companion in arms. Antony takes the 
occasion to warn him: 

"Delia fortuna io t'assicuro, ch'ella 
Non ti sie mai contraria si nel crine 
Avvolte 1' hai le mani. Dall' insidie 
Ben t'esort' io guardati de' nemici. 
Molti offesi da te si tengon ; molti 
Portano invidia alia tua gloria; alcuni 
Abbaglia il tuo splendore: altri patire 
Che tu lor sii superior, non ponno.' — Pp. 66-67 



62 

Caesar replies : 

" Diman cinquanta de' piu fidi, e forti* 
Seer della legion decima i voglio, 
Che mi stien di continuo al fianco, e scudo 
Mi sien contra ogni inganno, e forza esterna. 
Ch'io non son mica si di senno privo, 
Ne m'ha si la dolcezza inebriato 
Delle prosperity, ch'io non conosca, 
Quant' abbia di temer giusta cagione: 
E gia d'insidie non so, che m'e stato 
Susurrato all' orecchie: ma i disegni 
Scherniro di chi tenta oltraggio farmi. 
Ma cio poc' or mi preme, e mi da noia: 
Piu mi da noia, e preme il ricordarmi 
Ch' invendicata ancor resti la morte 
Di Crasso. . . ." — Page 67. 

He longs to see the Roman eagle triumphant, and Rome 
mistress of the world. 

This speech of Caesar's is noteworthy. The dictator 
affirms that the intoxication of success has not blinded his 
common sense. He has reason to fear treachery, yet just 
what is contemplated against him he does not know. He 
despises those who would harm him. That humbled Rome 
has not yet wreaked vengeance on the Parthians concerns 
him far more. Here again this concern of Caesar for the 
welfare of others finds its echo in Shakespeare's lines, 

"What touches us ourself shall be last served." 

There is no historical warrant for this attitude in this par- 
ticular connection. 

Courageous words ! But be it noted that Pescetti's Caesar 
in the presence of Antony does not wish to convey the im- 
pression of fear. He hastens to voice his scorn of treachery, 
even as he recounts his suspicions. This man, who prides 

* This is a detail which Pescetti derived from Appian's "Civil Wars," 
Bk. II., Ch. XVI., wherein it is stated that the conspirators had to hasten, as 
Caesar contemplated departing for Parthia within four days and would there- 
upon have a bodyguard. (White's translation, p. 176.) 



63 

himself on his selfcommand, is destined to fall an easy victim 
to his own vanity. His own self praise opens the way for 
Antony's flattery : 

"Alia fortuna, al valor tuo riserba 
Quest' alta impresa il cielo, accioche nulla 
A tuoi gran vanti, alle tue glorie manchi: 



O quali omai trovar si ponno al tuo 

Merto conformi titoli, e cognomi? 

Son vili i Magni al vincitor de' Magni. 

Al del salir convien, por man bisogna 

A titoli, e a nomi de gli Dei. 

Divine l'opre son, divini i fatti 

Divino e il tuo valor, divini ancora 

Esser vogliono i titoli, e i cognomi 

Di che la grata eta t'addorni, e fregi. — Pp. 68-69. 

Ces. — Con quai nomi m'appelli il mondo, o quali 
Titoli egli mi dia, poco mi cale. 
A me basta, ch' ei sappia, e legga, e narri 
Le da me oprate cose in pace, e in guerra; 
Onde ne resti la memoria viva 
Al par del Sol, con cui gareggi, e giostri 
Di chiarezza, e splendor la gloria mia." — P. 69. 

The dialogue has become a duet of praise, in which Antony 
seeks to outsing his master. Finally Caesar says, 

" Delle sovrane lodi, onde m'addorni, 
Molto mi pregio, 6 Antonio, e con ragione, 
Poscia, che vengon da colui, che, come 
Scorge, cosl di dir ha per costume 
II vero, e in bocca ha quel, ch'egli ha nel cuore, 
Ch'e cosl saggio, e candido, che come 
Esser nel giudicar non pud ingannato, 
Cosl nel dir altri ingannar non vuole." — P. 70. 

He accepts Antony's praise because he feels that it is true, 
coming from the heart of a sincere and plainspeaking friend. 
He reposes the same faith in Antony's judgment as is the case 
in Shakespeare. Thus, when he speaks of Cassius, Antony 
tells him, 



6 4 

"Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous; 
He is a noble Roman, and well given." 

A few lines later, Caesar says, 

"Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf, 
And tell me truly what thou think'st of him." 

In "Cesare" to Calpurnia's entreaties he retorts: 

" Donna, tu spargi le parole al vento; 
Resta di piu pregar, se saggia sei; 
A i lamenti, alle lagrime pon fine, 
Che vedrai sorger pria dall' Occidente, 
Et attuffarsi il Sol la, dond' ei nasce, 
Ch' io presti fede a i sogni, che possanza 
Habbian di frastornarmi dall' imprese 
Gia destinate i sogni, od i prodigi 



Esca di questo petto anzi lo spirto, 

Che' 1 timor c' entri, e massime de' sogni, 

Ch' altro non son, che vane ombre, e fantasmi. 

Quel, che di me prefisso e il ciel, conviene, 

Che sia: ne per por mente a sogni, 6 a segni 

Potrd schivarlo, e folle a me colui 

Sembra, che teme quel, che per consiglio, 

Ne per saver uman non pu6 schivarsi."* — Pp. 76-77. 

Let it be noted that Caesar is addressing Calpurnia in the 
presence of the Priest, and it would ill become the conqueror 
of the world to show fear or vacillation before them. He is 
discussing his wife's dream, yet in spite of his expressed dis- 
belief in omens, it was he who ordered the fateful sacrifice, 
which, as the First Messenger announces after the catastrophe, 
he himself inspected. Evidently he was in doubt even then, 
but his vanity and the urging of the conspirators lured him to 
his doom. Compare his boasts of fearlessness with Shake- 
speare : 

"Would he were fatter! but I fear him not: 
Yet if my name were liable to fear, 

* Pp. 76-77. This speech, in substance, occurs both in Muretus and in 
Grevin. 



65 

I do not know the man I should avoid 
So soon as that spare Cassius .... 

I rather tell thee what it is to be fear'd 
Than what I fear: for always, I am Caesar."* 

Yet immediately thereafter he wishes Antony to give him his 
true opinion of Cassius. What for? 

Still, in spite of his outwardly expressed contempt of the 
omens, Pescetti's Caesar yields, just as does Shakespeare's, 
when the crafty Decimus plays on his vanity. In the presence 
of the conspirators he soliloquizes: 

"Chi da consigli governar si lascia 
Delle donne, piu d'esse e vano, e stolto; 
Tuttavia forza e, ch'oggi condescenda 
Al voler della mia, s'aver vu6 pace, 
E tormi questa noia dalle spalle. 
Ma tanto, e cosi insolito timore, 
Ond' e si fieramente tormentata, 
Non e senza cagion: e benche tema 
In me non abbia luogo, pur sospetto, 
Che qualche tradimento alia mia vita 
S'ordisca, et ho di sospettar cagione. 
Ma sia che puo: s'e destinato in cielo, 
Ch'io muoia, e muoia: a voglia sua mi tolga 
La morte, che non pud, se non illustre, 
E glorioso tormi: Andra sotterra, 
Qualunque volta dal mortal sia scarca, 
L'ombra mia di trionfi, e spoglie addorna: 
E tal di me qui rimarra memoria, 
Che finche giri il ciel fia con stupore 
Cesare mentovato; e quel, che bee 

II Tanai, l'lbero, il Tigre, il Gange, 
Attonito udira narrar il Reno, 

II Nilo, e l'Ocean domati, e vinti 
E r Africa, e la Spagna del Romano 
Sangue da me inondate, e'l gran Pompeio, 
C'ha del suo nome pien tutti i confini 
Dell' ampia terra, vinto, e d'ogni sua 

* I., ii. 199. 



66 

Gloria, d'ogni suo onor spogliato, e privo: 
Morra il terren, che fra pochi anni ad ogni 
Modo ha da sciorsi in polve: ma immortale 
Rimarra del mio nome la memoria. 
Abbastanza ho vissuto alia natura, 
Et alia gloria, Omai ch'a far mi resti, 
Per piu glorificar il nome mio 
Non veggio. Asceso sono a quella altezza, 
Cui non e pari in terra: oltre alia quale 
Non pu6 salir, che del terreno incarco 
Non si spoglia, et isgrava, e mette 1'ale."* 

These are certainly "high astounding terms," but doubt 
and fear are at work, and this Caesar's long cogitations are 
very much like the whistling of a small boy to keep up his 
courage. When Decimus approaches, and informs him that 
the Senate is assembled, and awaits him, he says, 

"Debbol dir, 6 tacer? i preghi e i pianti 
Di mia mogliera avuto hanno possanza 
Di farmi variar proponimento; 
Oltre ch'io temo, e'l mio timor fondato 
E, non sopra fallaci, e vani sogni, 
Ma sopra certi indizi, e chiari segni, 
Che sien ordite alia mia vita insidie." — Page 95. 

Here is a man who has just proudly exclaimed that fear was 
foreign to him, now confessing that he fears, and that his 
fears are founded not on vain dreams or portents, but upon 
substantial grounds. But what are the "certi indizi, e chiari 
segni" that threaten his well-being? The vague warnings of 
Antony? No more substantial grounds have been presented 
in the course of the drama. No conspirators have been named ; 
Caesar, despite the talk regarding his conviction of impending 
disaster, is unsuspectingly conversing with one of the plotters. 
Are we to regard this lack of adequate reason for Caesar's 
fears as a flaw in Pescetti's technique? It must be remembered 
that Caesar ordered the fateful sacrifice, and that he himself 

* Pp- 93. 94. 95- There are some similarities to "Cornelie" and to Grevin 
in this passage. 



67 

confesses, in soliloquy, that Calpurnia's unusual fear has dis- 
turbed him. But he dreads to ascribe his perturbation to 
the influence of the portents, and lays the emphasis upon a 
suspicion of treachery, which, as far as he had any personal 
knowledge, we know rested on the vaguest grounds. There 
is no fault in Pescetti's motivation. He presents a Caesar, 
shaken by the very fears that assail baser men, but too proud 
to convey such an impression, fatuously trying to persuade 
himself that he is "constant as the northern star," while he 
wavers like a weather-cock between his fear and his pride. 
He listens to Decimus' arguments. The latter, knowing how 
to "give his humor the true bent," lays great stress on Rome's 
indebtedness to the Dictator: what Roman could be so base 
as to contemplate his death? 

D, Brutus — " e nondimeno 

Crederem, che si trovi alcun di cuore 
Cosl barbaro, e rio, cosi spietato 
Che pensi, non dir6, ch'ardisca, 6 tenti 
Di privarti di vita? io non lo credo, 

10 non lo credo, ne che sia, ch'il creda, 
Credo, ne credo, che tu stesso il creda. 
E come io ti consiglio, ch'a guardarti 
La diligenza accresca; cosi voglio, 
Ch'ogni timor deponga, ogni sospetto, 
Accioche, nulla nebbia offuschi, 6 turbi 

11 seren del tuo petto, e acquetate, 
Dopo tanti travagli, e tante guerre 
Le cose, insieme con la patria goda 
Quella felicita, quella quiete, 

Ch'ognun del saggio tuo governo attende." — Pp. 96-97. 

Thus Decimus artfully contrives to work on Caesar's 
vanity and to express his disbelief in the genuineness of 
Caesar's fears. The latter is sorely touched; he recognizes 
his mistake in using the word fear in his first statement, and 
hastens to assure Decimus : 

"Non tern' io, nd; non ha luogo il timore 
In questo petto: unque il mio cuor non seppe, 
Che timor fosse: e gia son giunto a tale 



68 

Etade, e tale cose oprate ho in arme, 

Che della morte aver non debba tema.* 

Potra ben morte, ch' ogni cosa scioglie, 

Questo corpo atterrar; ma la memoria 

Del nome mio non spegnera in eterno." — P. 97. 

Still his fears are potent, but he no longer says "temo," a 
word so unbefitting Caesar; it now becomes 

"Tuttavia credo, e sopra certi segni 
E conietture e il mio creder fondato, 
Che si tendano insidie alia mia vita." — P. 97. 

But he would not appear afraid; apprehensive lest fear may 
be suspected from this statement, he continues: 

"Dalle quai guarderommi in guisa, ch'io 
Non paventi pero, ne del mio petto 
In parte alcuna la quiete turbi; 
Ma tu va trova Marcantonio, e dilli 
Da parte mia, che vada a dar licenza 
Al Senato, e li dica, che per oggi 
In Senato non posso ritrovarmi." — P. 97. 

And note the solicitude of this Colossus, for the opinion of 
Caesar's Senate : 

" E mi scusi con lui si, che non nasca 
Sospetto in lui d'esser da me sprezzato." — P. 97. 

This Caesar, in spite of his words, fears. He fears the 
omens, but he will not betray his feelings. It might be claimed 
that his message to the Senate is a natural result of an innate 
courtesy typical of true greatness. But coming where it does 
and as it does, it seems more an exhibition of that pride which 
a man consciously great takes in the good opinions of his 
underlings. Surely Caesar had nothing to fear from his 
puppet Senators. He could just as curtly have disregarded 
them; but demigods must display some good attributes, some 
care for their worshippers, if only to feed the sense of their 
superiority on the admiration of inferior beings. 

* "Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, 
To be afeard to tell gray beards the truth?" 



6 9 

Decimus is quick to seize his opportunity and plays on this 
trait of Caesar's character. Surely the Senate will think 
that he has grown arrogant; that fortune has transformed a 
kind and courteous Caesar. The preservation of his reputa- 
tion for generosity demands his personal appearance before 
the Senators. Caesar yields, while Marcus Brutus glorifies 
the gods for this turn of affairs. The Dictator tells the still 
anxious Calpurnia to banish her fears, for the gods which so 
long have defended him, will not fail him now, while Decimus 
lauds him and assures Calpurnia that it were unthinkable that 
harm could befall Caesar in his own city. 

This scene, between Caesar, Calpurnia, and Decimus 
Brutus, seems to have no legitimate place in the plot unless 
Pescetti aims to heighten the pathos by bringing into stronger 
relief the vanity of the Dictator and the base treachery of his 
assassins. Caesar becomes to the modern reader a pitiable, 
almost a pitiful character. Any lurking admiration for the 
Conspirators' cause is effectually destroyed, and a feeling of 
horror supervenes. Perhaps Pescetti so intended. It is 
revolting to listen to Decimus, Caesar's beloved friend and 
companion in arms, recounting with smiling countenance 
his benefactor's courtesy, his magnanimity, his many great 
services to Rome, while he burns to plunge a dagger into his 
auditor's heart. And to think that Caesar, blinded by his 
vanity, allows a smiling villain to lead him like an ox to the 
sacrifice! This is pitiful, not pathetic. 

Later on, Decimus' praises soar to such heights that Caesar 
tells him 

" Assai corso l'arringo 

Hai di mie lodi, Bruto, di che debbo 

Molto pregiarmi, e rallegrarmi, essendo 

II lodator d'eterna lode degno. 

Ch'alor la lode e finalmente vera, 

Quando da huom lodato ella proviene." — Page 106. 

Yet Caesar accepts this fulsome flattery because in his judg- 
ment, it comes from a man well qualified to deliver it. Then, 
surrounded by his murderers, he walks unsuspectingly to his 
doom. 



79 

There is no historical justification for such a delineation of 
the greatest man of antiquity. Plutarch's account may not be 
sympathetic, but the modest author of the Commentaries is 
nowhere depicted as a vain, pompous, vacillating boaster. It 
is indeed difficult to account for such a characterization. 
Muretus may have fixed in his drama a conception of Caesar 
supposedly current in his day. But it must be remembered 
that this tragedy of Muretus was a youthful product, and one 
cannot expect of the student of eighteen, the mature judgment 
of the scholar of forty. Grevin followed Muretus, and since 
his drama is frankly an enlarged version of his predecessor's 
work, it is not surprising that the young physician took over 
the humanist's characterization of Caesar with scarcely any 
alterations. But Pescetti's livelihood depended upon his 
knowledge of the classics,* and his work bears unmistakable 
evidence of wide reading in both Latin and Greek authors. 
Unlike Muretus, he was over thirty when he wrote "Cesare"; 
surely his acquaintance with the sources must have made him 
well aware of the falsity of the traditional estimate of Caesar's 
character, if indeed in his time such an estimate was popularly 
current. There can be no question of the influence of Muretus 
in his own work, yet just why he should choose not only'to follow 
the former, but further to emphasize the weaknesses of Caesar 
must remain purely speculative. Pescetti's position in the 
matter is all the more curious because he dedicated his work to 
Alfonso D'Este, a supposed descendant of his titular hero. 
Under such circumstances it certainly would have been much 
to his advantage to have cast his Caesar in the most heroic 
mold, instead of presenting him in such a manner as to provoke 
resentment in the very quarters where he expected praise.f 

* He taught grammar and rhetoric in Verona. See Gerini, "Gli scrittori 
pedagogici nel secolo decimo settimo." 

t Paolo Beni was quick to seize upon this feature of Pescetti's character- 
ization of Caesar. He says: "Che se pur volesse alcuno che non percio restasse 
suo Cesare di esser f urto, almen convien confessare ch'egli solo fosse vero Autore 
dell'ingiuria la quale con tanta sciocchezza e temerita fece in tal Tragedia a 
quell'Altezza et a tutta la serenissima Casa d'Este, poscia che havendo pub- 
blicato e celebrato Alfonso per congiuntissimo di sangue con la Casa Giulia, 
e con Giulio Cesare, finalmente si adduce a dedicarli la sua Tragedia; (che sua 



7i 

Is it possible that Pescetti possessed sufficient dramatic 
technique to endeavor to present Caesar not as he really was, 
but as he appeared to the conspirators, and thus to give their 
action some excuse? 

That Shakespeare so presented him has been contended by 
some critics, but the motives that actuated the dramatists 
are not the point at issue. The total impression we gain in 
both dramas is singularly alike, while in some details the coin- 
cidence is striking; as where Caesar says, 

"Cowards die many times before their death; 
The valiant never taste of death but once. 
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, 
It seems to me most strange that men should fear: 
Seeing that death, a necessary end, 
Will come, when it will come" (II., II, 32).* 

chiamerolla per hora) quella Tragedia dico nella qual Cesare vien com'empio 
tiranno e traditor della patria bruttamente trucidato. Vedi imprudenza es- 
trema di quest'huomo: vedi sciocchezza et audacia incomparabile: ricordare 
che questo serenissimo Principe sia per sangue strettamente congiunto con 
Giulio Cesare, e disceso da Giulio Cesare, e poi immantinente far che il Theatro 
per ogni parte risuoni l'impieta, la perfidia, la tirannia di Cesare: e che su gli 
occhi di quell'Altezza ne venga quasi pernitioso mostro co'l ferro trucidato et 
estinto. E forse che non supplica il Serenissimo Alfonso (vedi nuova impru- 
denza et ardire) che faccia rappresentar questa Tragedia in publico con 
nobil pompa, e dia spettacolo si horrendo d'un suo antenato al Mondo." II 
Cavalcanti, 1614, p. 107 et seq. 

* It is interesting to note the fascination which this remark of Caesar's had 
for the dramatists of his fortunes. No doubt they drew their direct inspiration 
from Plutarch, who relates that Caesar, on being urged to have a body-guard, 
retorted, "It is better to die once, than always to be afraid of death." (J. C, 
p. 92.) Skeat. 
Thus Muretus says (Act III., verse 386): 

"Sed tamen quando semel 

Vel cadere praestat, quam metu longo premi." 
And Grevin, Act III., v. 791: 

" et si j'aime bien mieux 

Mourir tout en un coup, qu'estre tousjours paoureux." 
Also Act I., v. 13: 

"II vault bien mieux mourir 

Asseure de tout poinct, qu'incessamment perir. 

Faulsement par la peur." 



72 

There is nothing novel in these views ; one is directly traceable 
to Plutarch ; the others are often repeated in the classic drama, 
but it is at least curious that the same thought occurs fre- 
quently in Pescetti. Thus the Nurse, trying to comfort 
Calpurnia, says: 

"Che piu? certo e ciascun d'aver un giorno 
A terminar sua vita, e'l quando e incerto: 
Ne pud verun, per giovine, e robusto, 
Che sia pur un sol di, pur un momento 
Promettersi di vita, or dobbiam noi 
Percio viver ogn'or col cuor tremante, 
Come ogn'ora il carnefice ci stesse 
Col ferro ignudo sopra, e avvelenare 
Tutte col timor nostro le dolcezze 
Delia presente vita, anzi una morte 
Perpetua far tutta la vita nostra? 
Perch' in temendo il mal pena maggiore, 
Che nel patir lo stesso mal si prova.* 

Caesar, in response to the Priest and Calpurnia, says, 



"Quel, che di me prefisso e in ciel, conviene, 
Che sia; ne per por mente a sogni, 6 a segni 
Potro schivarlo, e folle a me colui 
Sembra, che teme quel, che per consiglio, 
Ne per saver uman non puo schivarsi." — Page 77. 

Again, it is remarkable that in both Pescetti and Shakespeare, 
D. Brutus is made the bearer of Caesar's message : in the former, 
to Mark Antony, who is to address the Senate; in the latter, 
he himself is to deliver the message to the Senate. t 
Again, to Decius' greeting Caesar replies: 

"And you are come in very happy time, 
To bear my greeting to the senators, 

In Garnier's "Cornelie" (Kyd's trans.) we read: 
"The fear of evil doth afflict us more 
Than the evil itself, though it be neer so sore." 
* Pp- 39-40. Also pages 79, 80, 82, 83 and 94, in which this same idea finds 
expression. 

t This is not the case in Muretus or Grevin, nor is it found in Plutarch. 



73 

And tell them that I will not come to-day: 
Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser: 
I will not come to-day: tell them so, Decius. 

Cal. — Say he is sick " (II., II, 60). ] 

Who has intimated that Caesar fears to come to the Senate? 
His expressions are plainly those of a man influenced by cir- 
cumstances which he considers it derogatory to his own sense 
of superiority to acknowledge. His exaggerated self-con- 
sciousness is feverish; even as he speaks, he builds inferences 
which no one but himself could derive from the premises.* 
He knows he is not sick, nor that he looks as if he were sick; 
when Calpurnia tells Decius to plead his illness, he builds 
another inference: 

Caes. — "Shall Caesar send a lie? 

Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far, 
To be afeard to tell graybeards the truth? 
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come." 

The very thought that anyone would suspect him of fear, and 
worse yet, of attempting to hide his fear in a falsehood, revolts 
him. An absolute exhibition of will is more becoming, and he 
feels it. 

Dec. — "Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause, 
Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so." 

This request is dramatically effective: is it historically or 
dramatically true? Caesar has said nothing at which the 
Senate might laugh ; the commands of a Dictator were danger- 
ous subjects for mirth. His entourage were in no jocund mood 
after the Lupercalia. 

Bru. — "I will do so; but, look you, Cassius, 

The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow, 
And all the rest look like a chidden train. f 

* True, the conspirators have suspected that the portents and the auspices 
might persuade him, and Trebonius has prepared for this. But how was 
Caesar to know? 

1 1., ii, 182. 



74 

Yet here is a proud conqueror, that lets an underling, although 
a friend, hint that his commands might be laughed at. True, 
Decius says, "Lest I be laughed at," but to insult the messenger 
because of Caesar's message, would surely be to scorn Caesar. 
Instead of the decisive, imperious command we should expect, 
we get a reiteration of a previous statement, and then the 
Dictator is lost in the man. For Decius' private satisfaction, 
but by no means for his public announcement, Caesar confides 
his true reasons. Decius interprets the dream in a manner 
most soothing to Caesar's vanity, and when he intimates that 
were some one to tell of this dream to the Senate, Caesar 
might become a laughing-stock and be accused of cowardice, 
the Dictator is vanquished; pride has conquered fear. Yet, 
mark, the dream was told to Decius as to a good friend, and in 
confidence. What right had he to assume that the dream 
would be told to the Senate? If it were told, he alone could 
he held responsible for its telling, since he alone, (besides 
Calpurnia), knew of it. Since when has the valiant Decius 
become a superior interpreter of dreams? Why should his 
explanations of a woman's fancies have greater weight with 
Caesar than the solemn decision of the venerable college of 
augurs? Decius boasts his ability to oversway Caesar, but 
he succeeds only because the latter, as in "Cesare," in his 
pride and vanity, is only too glad to seize an opportunity to 
silence his own apprehension, without compromise to his own 
exalted opinion of himself. He is blind to all other circum- 
stances. This conception of the scene is the only one, which, 
to me at least, renders it dramatically satisfying. 

Professor MacCallum,* of all the many commentators on 
this character, seems to have offered the most satisfactory 
interpretation. Caesar's bearing certainly justifies this critic's 
opinion, that, in a certain sense, he is playing a part and aping 
the immortal to be seen of men. As has been shown above, 
Pescetti's entire treatment suggests the same conception. 
His Caesar, if we may overlook the omission of any mention 
of his physical failings, can be aptly characterized by Professor 

* MacCallum, op. cit., p. 228. 



75 

Dowden's appraisal of the character in Shakespeare. "Julius 
Caesar appears in only three scenes of the play. In the first 
scene of the third act he dies. When he does appear, the poet 
seems anxious to insist upon the weakness rather than on the 
strength of Caesar. He is subject to the vain hopes and vain 
alarms of superstition. His manner of speech is pompous and 
arrogant. He accepts flattery as a right; he vacillates while 
professing unalterable constancy; he has lost in part his gift 
of perceiving facts and of dealing efficiently with men and 
events."* 

Another similarity in the treatment of Caesar must be 
noted. While Pescetti's tragedy is called "II Cesare," the 
titular hero occupies a position of the same relative unim- 
portance as the Caesar of Shakespeare's drama. He appears 
in but two of the five acts, the third and the fourth, and is 
fairly prominent. Yet, Brutus is the real protagonist. He 
appears in each act but the third, and is conspicuous through- 
out as the chief representative of the action. 

Yet here, as in Shakespeare, the spirit of Caesar dominates 
the play. From first to last it permeates the drama and 
provides the mainspring of the action. From Brutus' first 
speech to the concluding words of the Second Messenger his 
name is always before us. Calpurnia beholds him in her 
dreams, the Priest sees in the portents destruction threatening 
him and Rome, while the Choruses beg the gods to avert the 
impending disasters. Even Portia is animated by a desire to 
wreak vengeance on him. The Messenger in his final lament 
sees in his death the end of Rome's glories and presents him 
to us as the nemesis of his murderers. The effect of this 
treatment is to invest the entire play in an atmosphere of 
portent, with Caesar predominant. 

* "Shakespeare, A Critical Study of his Mind and Art," by Edward Dowden, 
Harper & Bros., 1903, pp. 253-54. 



BRUTUS 

Pescetti wrote his tragedy with the evident intention of 
nattering the Duke of Ferrara, yet never was fulfillment 
further from promise. "Cesare" could hardly have furnished 
agreeable reading to a prince, who, lauded on one page as the 
greatest descendant of the mightiest Julius, finds throughout 
the succeeding pages this same ancestor denounced as an 
odious tyrant, and displayed in action as a weak, vacillating 
braggart. Nor would his appreciation of Pescetti 's efforts 
have been increased by a consideration of the treatment 
accorded Brutus. Far from presenting the assassin of Caesar 
in a manner which might have been regarded as acceptable 
to the Duke, the Italian dramatist considers him throughout 
with the highest favor and never wearies of his praises. 

Pescetti's dedication renders it rather difficult to account 
satisfactorily for his Brutus. Possibly he harbored liberal 
sympathies of which he found it hard to rid himself; possibly 
he was here too greatly under Plutarch's influence; perhaps 
he was simply following in the footsteps of Muretus and 
Grevin. Plutarch certainly wrote the life "con amore," 
and both Pescetti and Shakespeare continue the idealization 
of the character begun by the biographer. To both drama- 
tists, as to Muretus and Grevin, Brutus was the "last of the 
Romans," in whom the old regime found its final and noblest 
champion. Under the circumstances it is difficult to seize 
upon any phase of the character peculiar alone to Shakespeare 
and Pescetti. Both went to the same, or nearly the same 
source for their material; both followed their source faith- 
fully. Yet it is this very similarity in the conception of the 
character which is especially significant for our purpose, for 
Shakespeare could have found in the Italian dramatist nothing 
to weaken, but much to confirm the favorable impression he 
gathered from the varied pages of Plutarch. 

Pescetti's pronounced bias is discernible from the very 

76 



77 

beginning. In his dedication* his fulsome flattery of Alfonso 
does not prevent him hinting that Caesar was no lawful 
ruler, nor from glancing at his excessive ambition, even though 
he afterward, in his drama, makes little mention of the one 
and none of the other. But perhaps most significant of his 
own feelings are the words he puts into the mouth of the 
Chorus of Citizens in his last act. The chorus sings the 
praises of Brutus in a manner which makes the immediately 
following praise of Caesar by the soldiers pale in comparison : 

Coro di Cittadini: 

O magnanimo Bruto, 

Vera stirpe di lui, 

Che caccid i Re, ch'uccise i figli sui: 

O vero Re, ch'i regni 

Non pur sprezzi, ma spegni, 

Et, ucciso il Tiranno, 

Torni la liberta nel proprio scanner, 

Qual premio possiam darti 

Al tuo valor condegno? 

Qual lingua, qual ingegno 

E bastante a lodarti, 

Quanto se' degno? 

O quanto sdegno 

Ho, che'l mio stile 

Non giunga al segno? 

Delle tuo lodi, ond' io 

Portar potessi, al mio 

Desir conforme, il tuo nome gentile 

Dall' aureo Gange alia rimota Tile. 

Dov' e, dov' e la Tromba 

Ond' Achille, et Ulisse ancor rimbomba? 

Che con sonoro canto 

Celebri in ogni canto 

II generoso, e pio 

Fatto, e tolga di mano al cieco oblio. — Pp. 140-141. 

* E per non fare ora qui (che ne il luogo, ne l'occasione il ricerca) un catalogo 
di tutti, chi dell' antico, 6 del moderno secolo possiam noi trovare, che a Cesare 
somigli piii, e faccia meglio parallelo di quel, che fa la Sereniss. Altezza Vostra? 
Sol che quelli fosse stato Cristiano, e avesse saputo contentarsi d'esser il primo 
della sua Citta, senza voler esser anche della stessa Citta piu potente, 6 Signor 
legittimo fosse suto; . . ."Cesare," Dedication, p. 2. 



78 

It is difficult to consider these utterances as impersonal. 
Such is Pescetti's admiration for the assassin of Caesar that 
he speaks in his own person, apparently forgetting in his 
enthusiasm that he has assigned the words to the Chorus 
of Citizens.* A further remove from Dante's conception of 
Brutus can hardly be imagined. 

Such an exhibition of partiality could not have been lost 
on Shakespeare. Such an emphasis of Plutarch's attitude 
could not have failed to confirm the favorable impression 
which he gathered from the biographer. Nor could Shake- 
speare, in those scenes in "Cesare" wherein Pescetti attempts 
to exhibit Brutus in action, have gathered any hints to shake 
the final opinion in his own play: 

"This was the noblest Roman of them all." 

Like Shakespeare, Pescetti very carefully eliminates from 
his characterization anything which might reflect unfavorably 
upon the moral character of the protagonist. We hear nothing 
of his positive moral defects; of his divorce, of his rivalry 
with Cassius for offices within the gift of the Dictator, nor of 
his many obligations to Caesar. All is discreetly passed over. 
Whatever Pescetti's intentions, he probably found it a dra- 
matic necessity to exclude them, much for the same reason 
that Shakespeare, in all likelihood influenced by his example, 
was led to ignore them. Possibly it was the Italian's purpose 
to portray the fruitless struggle of a hopeless, though noble 
and virtuous Republicanism against a condition of affairs whose 
existence had been preordained by the gods, and against which 
all the forces of an outraged idealism could not prevail. 
The mortal embodiment of this power might fall ; a place was 
ready for him with the gods, while Tartarus enlarged its 
bounds to compass his foes.t 

* In the classic drama it is not unusual for the Chorus to speak in the first 
person, but this instance is unique in Pescetti. It strikes the reader with all 
the force of an individual opinion of the author, 
t In the Prologue, Jove comforts Venus, saying: 

"Giulio, della cui morte tanto lutto 
Meni, e cordoglio, e si ti lagni, e duoli, 
Risplendera doman in ciel al pari 
Della tua stella; . . . Prologue, p. 10. 



79 

If we are to accept the opinion of some critics, Shakespeare 
was influenced in his treatment of the subject by the recent 
failure of the Duke of Essex' rebellion. It showed plainly 
and forcibly the folly of opposition to the monarchial power. 
The same idea can be discovered in Pescetti. Much as he 
lauds Brutus, the practical considerations of authorship 
compel him at times to a consideration of contemporary 
conditions. Possibly he realized that he was going too far 
in his denunciation of Caesar, for we find the Nurse engaging 
in a defense of monarchs, and declaring, 

"E non son altro i Regi, che Vicari 
Del sommo Giove." — P. 55. 

At the end of the play, the author is careful to emphasize 
the futility of fighting against the established order: 

"E chiaro vedrai meco, 
Che questo mondo e una perpetua guerra, 
Ove l'un l'altro atterra, 
E si tosto, ch'un manca, 
Rinasce un altro, e'l mondo si rinfranca." — P. 149. 

But it is quite possible that neither Pescetti nor Shakespeare 
had the faintest idea of introducing any such problem into 
their tragedy. Possibly both dramatized history as they 
conceived it, without any attempt to invest their work with a 
larger significance. Yet consciously or unconsciously, by 
thus representing their hero as morally immaculate, actuated 
solely by the highest and most unselfish motives, while the 
representative of monarchy is depicted as weak, vacillating, 
and tyrannous, both Pescetti and Shakespeare have secured 
for the problem its most elemental and most emphatic 
statement. 

Both dramatists, therefore, approached the subject in the 
same spirit. Both excluded from their portrait of Brutus 
whatever seemed to reflect unfavorably upon his character; 
both included whatever might add to his moral elevation. 
It is this peculiar insistence upon certain traits of Brutus' 



8o 

character to the exclusion of others, that furnishes a close 
parallel between the two plays.* 

The Brutus of "Cesare", at his first appearance, curiously 
resembles the Brutus of "Julius Caesar" after the famous 
soliloquy. He is torn by no doubts as to the moral excellence 
of his plans: his whole soul is bent upon the destruction of the 
tyrant. Thus, in his opening speech* he exclaims, 

"Oggi a Roma far6 conoscer, ch'io 
Degno nipote son di quel gran Bruto, 
Che di questa Citta cacciando i Regi 
Alta vendetta, e memorabil feo 
Del barbarico stupro di Lucrezia. 
Roma, oggi questa mano, e questo ferro, 
O ha da sciorre, e romper le catene, 
Ond' in duro servaggio avvinta sei, 
O ha da trar di vergognosa, e grave 
Vita, anzi morte me." — P. 12. 

This, in style, sentiment, and wording is closely parallel to 
the exclamation of Brutus on reading the notes: 

"Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome? 

My ancestors did from the streets of Rome 

The Tarquin drive, when he was called a King. 
'Speak, strike, redress.' — Am I entreated 

To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise 

If the redress will follow, thou receivest 

Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!" 

The exclamatory style is particularly noteworthy, as it 
occurs frequently in the parallels. 

* As is well known, Plutarch nowhere condemns Brutus for his murder of 
Caesar. Appian, however, while he recognizes Brutus' virtues, is strong in 
condemnation of his act. He says: "Against all these virtues and merits must 
be set down the crime against Caesar, which was not an ordinary or a small 
one, for it was committed unexpectedly against a friend, ungratefully against 
a benefactor who has spared them in war, and nefariously against the head of 
the state, in the senate house, against a pontiff clothed in his sacred vestments, 
against a ruler without an equal, who was most useful above all other men to 
Rome and its empire." Civil Wars, White's Trans., p. 381. 

It is curious to note how Pescetti here abandons Appian in favor of Plutarch. 



A peculiar difference in treatment, but a striking parallel 
in content, is to be found in a portion of the Brutus-Cassius 
scene.* In Pescetti, Brutus enters the action fully resolved, 
and though Cassius is already in the plot, that cautious con- 
spirator has his doubts as to Caesar's vulnerability. Brutus 
thereupon indulges in an argument curiously similar to that 
used later by Cassius in Shakespeare's play when he is striving 
to arouse Brutus. In Pescetti, Cassius says of Caesar: 

"Tu sai, ch'egli e feroce, e ne' perigli 
Non si sgomenta punto, anzi diviene 
Allor pill ardito, e coraggioso, quando 
Maggior vede il periglio."t — P. 24. 

Brutus replies: 

11 E siasi, nulla 

Li giovera l'ardir, nulla la forza, 
Che non potra, se tutto acciaio ei fosse 
Resister al furor di trenta, c'hanno 
Posta la propria vita in abbandono 
Per liberar la patria. O Cassio, credi 
Tu, ch'io non sappia, ch'in cotesto tuo 
Petto non meno ardir si chiude, e serra, 
Ch'in quel di Giulio? e che cotesto braccio 
Non e del suo men nerboruto, e forte?"* 

* Just before the discussion concerning Antony, already quoted. 
P t From these words the reader may believe that the conspirators feared that 
very courage of which Caesar himself proves deficient. But by courage; 
Cassius here means sheer physical bravery, an attribute which no reader either 
of Pescetti or of Shakespeare can deny him. The courage Caesar lacked was 
that of his own convictions. Like Macbeth, the known had no terrors for him, 
but like the Scottish king, he is confounded by the unseen. No Roman could 
have found fault with a man for heeding the warning of the gods. The historical 
Caesar, it is true, oft expressed his contempt for omens, while the Caesar of 
the drama professes to disregard them. But his disregard is superficial, and 
apparently the result of an attitude which we cannot but attribute to a belief 
in his own semi-divine being. Rather than be suspected of feelings common 
enough to ordinary mortals, Caesar deludes himself by a process of self-hyp- 
notism, and is led to his doom, a victim of his lack of true courage, a sacrifice 
to his own inordinate vanity. 

t P. 24. Is this perhaps the hint from which Shakespeare built up the entire 
scheme of physical comparisons dwelt upon by Cassius? The swimming of 
the Tiber, for instance? 



82 



Shakespeare has: 



Cassius — "I had as lief not be as live to be 
In awe of such a thing as I myself. 
I was born free as Caesar; so were you. 
We both have fed as well, and we can both 
Endure the winter's cold as well as he.* 

It is remarkable that in both dramas the authors found it 
necessary to convince one of their conspirators that Caesar 
was physically the same as other men. 

The Brutus of Pescetti is accorded the same high estimate 
by his countrymen as the Brutus of Shakespeare. Cassius 
refers to him as " II mio Bruto" and lauds him as 

"Bruto, sovrano pregio, e gloria della 
Romana gioventu, Bruto, in cui splende 
Ogni prisco valor, cui chiama il cielo 
A gloriose, et immortali imprese." — P. 15. 

A little further on he continues: 

"Or si, c'huomo ti stimo, Bruto, e vero 
Ramo di quella eccelsa, e gloriosa 
Stirpe, ch'a Roma il giogo indegno scosse. 
Or si, che chiaro veggio ch' in te spirto 
Veramente Roman si chiude, e serra; 
Ch'in te quel valor vive, ch'oggi, invano 
Cerco nel popol nostro, invan disio." — P. 16. 

This speech follows Brutus' revelation of his determination 
to kill the tyrant. In Shakespeare, after Cassius has suc- 
ceeded in moving Brutus, he says, 

"Well, Brutus, thou art noble. . . ."f 

The shade of Pompey says to Brutus: 

"... Tu puoi dunque, 
Bruto, servir? tu, che l'origin trai 
Da colui, che premier la libertade 
A questa alta Citta dond? tu puoi 

* I., ii. 95- 
1 1., ii. 308. 



83 

A Tiranno servir? tu, che discendi 

Da colui, che'l leggitimo Signore 

Tollerar non poteo? questo appreso hai 

Da quella sacrosanta, e veneranda 

Maestra della vita, e de' costumi, 

Per cui seguir gia nell' etade acerba 

La patria abbandonasti, e la te'n gisti, 

Ove fiorian tutti i lodati studi, 

Tutte l'arti gentili, e bei costumi? 

Ahi quanto defraudato hai quella speme, 

Che gia fanciullo ancor di te destasti 

Nel petto di ciascun, che ti conobbe? 

Mai col principio il fin s'accorda, o Bruto, 

Mai risponde alia prima la mezzana 

Eta: pur sai, ch'in valor dee l'huom sempre 

Irsi avanzando, qual fiume reale, 

Che quanto piu dal fonte suo si scosta, 

Tanto piu cresce, e al mar piu ricco corre. 

Destati, e Bruto, destati, e raccendi 

Quel fuoco, ch'era in te ne' tuoi primi anni; 

E mostra, ch'al tuo nome corrisponde 

L'animo, ne dal ceppo tuo traligni." — P. 17. 

Here we find many characteristics enumerated, garnered 
from Plutarch and Appian, which, in addition to those already 
quoted, could have enabled Shakespeare without Plutarch's 
scattered hints, to build a considerable part of his character- 
ization of Brutus. In Shakespeare, Cassius says to Brutus: 

"You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand 
Over your friend that loves you."* 

Here, as in Pescetti, all animosity between them is forgotten. 
Further on Cassius exclaims, as Brutus assures him that he 
loves the name of honor more than he fears death : 

"I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus, 
As well as I do know your outward favor. f 

Just before this, he says: 

* I., ii, 33-34- 
t I.i ii, 89-90. 



8 4 

"And it is very much lamented, Brutus, 
That you have no such mirrors as will turn 
Your hidden worthiness into your eye, 
That you might see your shadow. I have heard 
Where many of the best respect in Rome, 
Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus, 
And groaning underneath this age's yoke, 
Have wished that noble Brutus had his eyes."* 

Casca refers to Brutus as follows: 

"O, he sits high in all the people's hearts."f 

Cassius again : 

" and no man here 

But honors you; and every one doth wish 
You had but that opinion of yourself 
Which every noble Roman bears of you." J 

Ligarius hails him as, 

"S^ul of Rome, 
Brave son, derived from honorable loins. "§ 

"Set on your foot, 
And with a heart new-fired I follow you, 
To do I know not what; but it sufhceth 
That Brutus leads me on."|| 

The same confidence in Brutus is manifested by the Cassius of 
"Cesare." As Brutus and he come out of the temple, Cassius 
says: 

"Scritta nel volto tuo veggio, e per gli occhi 

Scintillar fuor tal tua baldanza scorgo. 

Quindi felice angurio io prendo; quindi 

Anch' io tutto m'inanimo, e rincuoro 

E certissima speme io concepisco, 

Ch'aver felice fin deggia la cosa." — P. 23. 

* I., ii, 54-61. 
t I., i". 157. 
t II., i, 90. 
§ II., i, 321. 
II II., i, 332. 



85 

Like Shakespeare, Pescetti lays great stress upon Brutus' 
lack of foresight. As is evident from the discussion regarding 
Antony, he utterly fails to see the fatal mistake he makes in 
sparing that subtle opportunist. That it is a mistake, Pes- 
cetti shows, when, near the end of the drama, the Messenger 
announced that Antony and Lepidus are about to avenge 
Caesar's death. Brutus' whole argument is characteristic of 
the closet philosopher; books, not men, have been the object 
of his studies. He can dissect sagely the motives of his own 
actions, but he is helpless to penetrate the purposes of other 
men. In glaring contrast to the Brutus of the famous solilo- 
quy, yet akin in his impracticability, here is a Brutus who 
speaks thus, when a cautious, worldly Cassius reminds him 
(in regard to Antony), 

"A me piu saggio 
Sembra colui che 1' suo nemico uccide 
Pria che 1' offenda, che lui, che dopo 
Ch' e stato offeso, vendica l'ingiuria. 
Bruto — Non il pensier, ma l'opra punir vuolsi. 
Oltra, che chi m'accerta, ch'ei tal mente 
Abbia qual dici? Chi pud dentro il petto 
Suo penetrar? e ci6, che vi nasconde 
Veder? Gli uman pensier st)l Giove intende." — P. 26. 

He would spare Antony because he is a reveller and given 
to the pleasures of the flesh. How could such a man, he asks, 
triumph over those who have devoted their lives to study and 
toil? He fatuously believes that Caesar's death will so in- 
timidate Antony as to drive all desire of domination out of 
the head of that wily schemer. 

And to all of this, Cassius very appropriately replies: 

"Bruto, tu se' troppo pietoso: voglia 
II ciel, che questa tua pieta non sia 
Un giorno a noi crudel." — P. 27. 

Yet this Brutus, just like Shakespeare's Brutus, is so 
carried away by the conviction of the irresistible justice of 
his cause that he abruptly terminates this vital discussion 
by the lofty statement: 



86 

"Chiunque ama virtu, figlio e di Giove." 

This overpowering sense of the righteousness of his cause 
is strong throughout. In his opening speech he exclaims, 
as he addresses Jove : 

" ne sdegnar, ch'io sia, 

Benche indegno, ministro, et instrumento 
Delia giustizia tua ; ne perche sacro 
Luogo alia morte del Tiranno abbiamo 
Eletto, riputar, ch'in noi s'annidi 
Altro pensier, che pio: Rimira al cuore, 
Che, se 1'atto e profano, il cuor e pio, 
E pieta sola e di tal atto madre." — P. 13. 

He considers himself the unworthy instrument of Jove's 
vengeance. He feels that the act itself is impious,* but his 
lofty motives must plead his excuse. 

"O conspiracy, 
Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, 
When evils are most free? O, then, by day 
Where will thou find a cavern dark enough 
To mask thy monstrous visage ?f 

Just before this he says : 

Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar 
I have not slept. "J 

Since the shade of Pompey appeared to him, Pescetti's Brutus 
exclaims that his thoughts, like those of the Greek Milthiades, 
"Non mi lascian dormir, ne prender posa." — P. 15. 

When Portia reminds him that fortune often opposes merit 
he replies: 

"Ha ben fortuna per antica usanza 
Di contrastar alia virtu; ma quello 
Addopra contra lei, che l'onda insana 
Del tempestoso mar nel fermo scoglio." — P. 49. 

* Probably because it involved a profanation of the sacred precincts of the 
Senate. But one might expect such an ardent patriot to regard Caesar's death 
here as a very acceptable sacrifice to the gods he supposedly outraged. But 
see Appian. 

t H-. i. 77. 

J II., i, 61. 



87 

This is the same spirit that prompts Shakespeare's Brutus 
to reject the oath : 

"What other oath 
Than honesty to honesty engaged 
That this shall be or we will fall for it?" 

"Unto bad causes swear 
Such creatures as men doubt, but do not stain 
The even virtue of our enterprise, 
Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits 
To think that or our cause or our performance 
Did need an oath . . . ."* 

In "Cesare," Brutus has such a hold over the conspirators 
that they gladly, as in Shakespeare, accept his leadership and 
decision on all points. To him are left all the details of the 
murder. When the fateful moment comes, he stands, after 
the first shock, unmoved by the fears of his fellows, and calms 
their panic when Lenate speaks to Caesar. 

"Respira, 6 Cassio, chi li parla d'altro, 
Per quel, che di qui posso dal sembiante 
Comprender, e da gesti."f 

"Cassius, be constant; 
Popilius Lena speaks not of our purpose; 
For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change." % 

The Brutus of Pescetti, who can find time to study faces at 
such a critical moment, never forgets the respect due to 
himself. Just like Shakespeare's Brutus, as long as a fighting 
chance exists, he would fight to the last, but he would sooner 
die by his own hand than grace the triumph of his enemy. 
To Cassius, who rouses him to the danger in Lenate's talk to 
Caesar, he replies: 

"T'intendo; ahi che valor, dove fortuna 
S'opponga, nulla val. Stiam preparati, 
Per proveder, se fia bisogno, al nostro 

* II., i, 124. 
t P. 109. 
JUL, i, 22. 



88 

Scampo, e alia liberta farci la strada, 

Se non possiam con altro, col passarci 

Co' pugnali l'un 1'altro il fianco, o' 1 petto." — P. 107. 

Cas. — "Then, if we lose this battle, 

You are contented to be led in triumph 
Thorough the streets of Rome? 

Bru. — No, Cassius, no. Think not, thou noble Roman, 
That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome; 
He bears too great a mind. But this same day 
Must end that work the Ides of March begun. 
And whether we shall meet again I know not ; 
Therefore, our everlasting farewell take. 
Forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius! 
If we do meet again, why, we shall smile, 
If not, why then this parting was well made."* 

One of the curious things in Shakespeare's drama is the 
rather vague causes of resentment which the conspirators 
have towards Caesar. As Professor MacCallum says, "Cas- 
sius, the moving spirit of the opposition, is, at his noblest, 
actuated by jealousy of greatness. And he is not always at 
his noblest. He confesses that had he been in Caesar's good 
graces, he would have been on Caesar's side. This strain of 
servility is more apparent in the flatteries and officiousness of 
Decius and Casca. And what is the motive? Cassius seeks 
to win Antony by promising him an equal voice in disposing 
of the dignities; and he presently uses his position for extor- 
tion, and the patronage of corruption. Envy, ambition, 
cupidity, are the principles of the governing classes; and their 
enthusiasm for freedom means nothing more than an enthu- 
siasm for prestige and influence, for the privilege of parcelling 
out the authority and dividing the spoils. What care have these 
against the Man of Destiny, whose glories have given compass, 
peace and security to the Roman world? But their plea of 
liberty misleads the impractical student, the worshipper of 
dreams, memories, and ideals, behind whose virtue they 
shelter their selfish aims, and whose countenance alone can 

* v., i, 109. 



89 

make their conspiracy respectable. And this very Brutus 
enters the conspiracy, not because of what Caesar did, or 
what he is, but because of what he may become ! I need not 
here recount such causes of resentment which may be gleaned 
from the play. They all tend to the conclusions advanced 
above. The only serious charge urged against Caesar is that 
he was ambitious; — surely a sorry charge upon which to 
justify to the Roman populace the murder of a benefactor."* 
The same lack of definiteness in the charges against Caesar 
is to be found in Pescetti. The latter, like Shakespeare, 
could have found enough material in Appian and in Plutarch 
upon which to ground the conspiracy, but we look in vain for 
some decisive accusation. There is much talk of tyranny, 
much about the hard yoke under which Romans groan, but 
very little in the way of elucidation. Caesar is not accused 
of ambition ; no mention whatever is made of the attempts to 
crown him. Envy does not seem to be a motive ; at least we 
gain no such idea from the conduct of the conspirators, although 
Mark Antony directly hints at this in his warning to Caesar. 

" Delia fortuna io t'assicuro, ch'ella 
Non ti sie mai contraria si nel crine 
Avvolte Thai le mani. Dall'insidie 
Ben t'esort' io guardarti de' nemici. 
Molti offesi da te si tengon: molti 
Portano invidia alia tua gloria; alcuni 
Abbaglia il tuo splendore: altri patire, 
Che tu lor sii superior, non ponno. — P. 67. 

As far as most of the conspirators in "Julius Caesar" are 
concerned, this seems to fit them; but, strange to say, it is 
difficult to see where it applies in "Cesare." Of the many 
offenses of which Caesar is held responsible we get very little 
beyond this bare statement. 

As far as Brutus is concerned, he evidently blames Caesar 
for Pompey's death and burns to avenge it. Just why, is 
nowhere apparent. He longs to restore the ancient liberties, 
but in what degree they have been destroyed, and above 

* P. 216-217, MacCallum. 



90 

all, just what part Caesar played* in their destruction is not 
very clear. In the very first scene, Brutus apostrophises 
the shade of Pompey, who had appeared to him during the 
night, and had said, 

"... Tu puoi dunque, 
Bruto, servir? tu che l'origin trai 
Da colui che primo la libertade 
A questa alta Citta dond? tu puoi 
A Tiranno servir? tu, che discendi 
Da colui, ch'l leggitimo Signore 
Tollerar non poteo? questo appreso hai 
Da quella sacrosanta, e veneranda 
Maestra della vita, e de' costumi, 
Per cui seguir gia nell' etade acerba 
La patria abbandonasti:f 

He recounts the hopes entertained by the bright promise of 
Brutus' youth, and exhorts him to prove to the world that 
these hopes may yet be realized. 

The shade does not demand vengeance on his own account ; 
he deplores Brutus' fealty to a tyrant, and states certain 
conditions, but nothing specifically tyrannical. In his opening 
apostrophe to the shade, Brutus indulges in the same general- 
ities. I will quote this entire speech, partly for its bearing 
on the matter under discussion, and partly for the light it 
sheds on Pescetti's conception of Brutus' character. 

"Magnanim' ombra ecch'io ti seguo, ecch'io 
M'accingo all' alta impresa, a che m'esorti. 
Oggi 6 del sangue del crudel Tiranno, 
O del mio spargerassi il terren sacro. 
Oggi 6 vendicard l'empia tua morte, 
E riporr6 la patria in libertade, 
O verrotti a trovar, dovunque sei. 

* The conclusion is irresistible that Pescetti was very much under the in- 
fluence of Lucan. This is true not alone of the supernatural element, but also 
of the general attitude of Brutus and Cassius, who talk of Caesar very much in 
the spirit of the Pharsalia. In Book IX. Lucan describes how the soul of 
Pompey leaving the tomb soars to the abodes of the Blessed and thence looking 
down upon the earth inspires the breasts of Brutus and Cato. (Lines 1-23.) 

tP. 17. 



91 

Oggi a Roma faro conoscer, ch'io 

Degno nipote son di quel gran Bruto, 

Che di questa Citta cacciando i Regi 

Alta vendetta, e memorabil feo 

Del barbarico stupro di Lucrezia. 

Roma, oggi questa mano, e questo ferro 

O ha da sciorre, e romper le catene, 

Ond' in duro servaggio avvinta sei, 

O ha da trar di vergognosa, e grave 

Vita, anzi morte me. Giove, se giusto 

Se\ se'l trar le Citta di sotto a piedi 

De superbi Tiranni, se'l punire 

Gli empi, se'l dar a gli innocenti aita, 

Opra e, che sovra ogn'altra aggrada, e piace 

Alia tua maesta, deh favorisci 

La santa impresa, e se prosontuoso 

Son in tor quell'effetto alia tua destra, 

Che si doveva a lei, ch'era suo proprio, 

Perdona al gran disio, c'ho di vedere 

Nella primiera liberta riposta 

Quest'alta patria; ne sdegnar, ch'io sia, 

Benche indegno, ministro, et instrumento 

Delia giustizia tua: ne perche sacro 

Luogo alia morte del Tiranno abbiamo 
Eletto, riputar, ch'in noi s'annidi 
Altro pensier, che pio: Rimira al cuore 
Che, se l'atto e profano, il cuore e pio, 
E pieta sola e di tal atto madre." 

Here is a man ready to kill Caesar because of a dream! 
The Brutus of Shakespeare would kill him not because of 
what he is, but for what he might become. The same state- 
ment regarding tyranny, ancient liberties, etc., occurs again 
and again throughout " Cesare." Cassius repeats them in the 
very next speech ; but all is very vague, very indefinite. Brutus 
and Cassius later indulge in a lofty dialogue concerning liberty, 
and Brutus says that the only thing which has kept him alive 
is the hope that some day he may be able to help Rome regain 
her ancient liberties. That alone, he feels sure, has also kept 
Cassius from desiring to outlive the dead Republic* 

■* Pp. 89-90. 



92 

Perhaps the strongest statement is contained in Brutus' 
speech at the beginning of the fifth act.f 

"Cittadini, II Tiranno ha col suo sangue 
Pagate le dovute pene, et ha soddisfatto 
All'anime di tanti huomini illustri, 
Che son, per colpa sua, giti sotterra. 
Omai libera e Roma, 
Dalle nostre cervici e scosso il giogo, 
Et ei conforme al merto suo nel propio 
Sangue, ch'in larga vena 
Per cento piaghe versa 
Giace a pie della statua 
Del magnanimo Duce, 
Cui non vider mai par quest' alte mura:" — P. 115. 

Yet there is nothing stronger in all this than in Shakespeare. 
There Caesar comes in triumph over Pompey's sons; not alone 
the parent, but the offspring have fallen. Brutus says, 

"No, not an oath: if not the face of men, 
The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — 
If these be motives weak, break off betimes, 
And every man hence to his idle bed ; 
So let high sighted tyranny rage on 
Till each man drop by lottery " (II., 1, 114). 

t In Muretus the case against Caesar is also weak. In Grevin, Brutus in 
his speech to the citizens makes definite charges: 

"Ce Tyran, ce Cesar, enemi du Senat, 
Oppresseur du pays, qui de son Consulat 
Avoit faict heritage, e de la Republique 
Une commune vente en sa seule practique, 
Ce bourreau d'innocens, ruine de nos loix, 
La terreur des Romains, e le poison des droicts, 
Ambitieux d'honneur, qui monstrant son envie, 
S'estoit faict appeler Pere de la patrie, 
E Consul a jamais, a jamais Dictateur, 
Et pour comble de tout, du surnom d'Empereur. 
II est mort ce meschant, qui decelant sa rage, 
Se feit impudemment eslever un image 
Entre les Rois, aussi il a eu le loyer 
Par une mesme main qu'eut Tarquin le dernier." 

(Lines 1017 ft".} 



93 

Nor can I, despite all this talk concerning ancient liberties, 
this vehement denunciation of tyranny, discern any definite 
republican tendencies in "Cesare." As has already been 
pointed out, Pescetti's treatment of Caesar aroused the resent- 
ment of the partisans of Alfonso d'Este, yet the author takes 
pains to have it understood that princes rule by divine right 
as God's vicars on earth. In the fourth act, Brutus and 
Cassius indulge in a dialogue, entirely superfluous, regarding 
liberty, and Cassius advances what, to a Roman at least, 
must have seemed rather a novel view of this much discussed 
subject. 

Cas. — "La liberta null'altro 

E, ch'imperio, e dominio di se stesso." — P. 89. 

The interjection of this philosophical conception, seemingly 
so at variance with classical traditions, serves only further to 
complicate an already sufficiently complicated issue. In 
short, the motives of the conspirators are not expressed 
with sufficient clearness to enable us to indicate their exact 
nature. 

Yet, in spite of his impracticability, in spite of the haziness 
of his motives, the Brutus of Pescetti, like that of Shakespeare, 
leaves us in no doubt as to the sincerity of his purpose. What- 
ever base motives may actuate his follows (and in Pescetti 
none are discernible), he seems to deserve the same eulogy 
accorded the Brutus of Shakespeare. The salvation of the 
common weal alone, even at the expense of his own life, seems 
to animate him. Thus, he says to Decimus Brutus: 

"Albin, tanto al morir, quanto al dar morte 
All' ingiusto Signor siam preparati: 
Pero succeda, come piace al cielo. 
Se l'opre de' mortai rimira Giove 
Con occhio giusto, a fin felice, e lieto 
Scorgera i pensier nostri, ch'all' altrui 
Salute, all' altrui ben rivolti sono." — Ces., p. 93. 

"He only, in a general honest thought 
And common good to all, made one of them." — J. C, V., v, 71. 



94 

It is certainly significant, that with a wealth of material 
to draw upon, both Pescetti and Shakespeare should, in regard 
to Brutus, treat the available sources in a manner so similar. 
Pescetti excludes much historical matter which he might have 
employed ; Shakespeare makes practically the same exclusions. 
Thus the histories contained sufficient data upon which to 
found a formidable indictment against Caesar, but both chose 
to overlook them and to found the conspirators' cause on 
comparatively insignificant accusations. In both dramas, 
certain phases of Brutus' character are emphasized to the 
exclusion of others. Much is said of his virtues: nothing, 
not even by his enemies, of his vices. In their inclusions, a 
similar parallelism exists between the two dramatists. Pes- 
cetti, with a keen perception of the dramatic value of that 
phase of Brutus' character, assigns to his mistaken idealism 
in sparing Antony, a far more significant position in the de- 
velopment of his tragedy than did his predecessors.* Here 
we get an individual treatment of this dramatic crux which 
has a striking similarity to that in Shakespeare. It leaves us 
with the same conception of Brutus' practical failings, with 
the same misgivings which we experience in the work of his 
great contemporary.! Unlike Muretus and Grevin, Pescetti 
does not overlook the importance of the Popilius Lena incident, 
and by his treatment he introduces an element of suspense 
which Shakespeare could well use to advantage. Though 
both dramatists used practically the same source, Pescetti's 
individual touches seem reflected in Shakespeare's handling of 
this episode. Again, unlike his predecessors, Pescetti was 
fully alive to the value of the Brutus-Portia scenes, and reveals 
Brutus in his domestic relations very much as Shakespeare 
does some ten years later.J Finally, in both dramas the 

* There is no doubt that Pescetti found in Muretus the hints for some of 
Brutus' speeches, but his loans from his predecessor do not affect the argument. 

t But, as usual, Pescetti fails to take full advantage of this motif. During 
the wordy progress of the drama we lose sight of Antony, and only a few lines 
at the end suggest him as the Nemesis of the conspirators. 

t See section on Portia. 



95 

protagonist is but a pawn moved by invisible powers, pursuing 
his fated way against an ominous and supernatural back- 
ground. In both tragedies, destiny has its ghostly pre- 
cursors; in the one to arouse the hero to action, in the other, 
to herald his doom. 



THE OTHER CHARACTERS 

I 

There is little in Pescetti's presentation of the figure of I 
Cassius suggestive of the splendidly drawn portrait in "Julius 
Caesar." Pescetti found it a difficult matter to differentiate 
between Brutus and Cassius; much that the latter says or 
does throughout might with equal propriety have been assigned 
to his fellow conspirator. Both seem to be of one mind in 
most matters; only in the two important scenes already noted* 
does Cassius seem possessed of any distinct individuality. 
In one his caution is emphasized, in the other his rashness in 
the face of danger. 

II 

Pescetti was little more fortunate in his characterization of 
Antony. He is hardly more than a puppet who acts the part 
of an echo to Caesar in the dialogue before mentioned, in- 
dulges in a soliloquy, and then vanishes from the scene. Ob- 
viously Pescetti intended him to play the part of the tried 
friend and counsellor, but there is nothing resembling in- 
dividuality in his speeches. He talks like a book, and has 
about at much true vitality as an automaton. Possibly the 
soliloquy was introduced to contrast his ideas on dominion 
with those of Calpurnia on the same subject, and to lend force 
to the dictum contained in the concluding passage of the play: 

"Che questo mondo e una perpetua guerra, 
Ove l'un l'altro atterra, 
E si tosto, ch'un manca, 
Rinasce un' altro, e'l mondo si rinfranca." — Ces., p. 149. 

This is not a bad dramatic device, but the progress of the 
plot is so obstructed by the mass of needless declamation, 
that long before the end, all thought of Antony as a possible 

* In regard to Antony and the Popilius Lena episode. 

96 



97 

successor to Caesar has escaped the reader. In Antony's 
recital of his secret longings, he reveals traits which justify 
us in classifying his utterances as those appropriate to a crafty 
opportunist. Pescetti could describe his characters accept- 
ably enough, either in their own words, or in those of others, 
but he could not exhibit them successfully in action; hence, 
this soliloquy, while ineffective in his own drama, could readily 
furnish hints which a better dramatic artist could use to 
advantage. To this Antony, nothing is dearer than dominion ; 
for him there is no bliss comparable to the "sweet fruition of 
an earthly crown." 

" Ma sperar tanto 

Non oso. Pur chi sa quel, ch'ordinato 

Sia nel celeste regno? A me medesmo 

Di non mancar deliberato sono, 

Se mi presenta occasione il cielo, 

E mi mostra la via di conseguire 

Quel, che pud farmi un' altro Giove in terra, 

A pormi in man dell' universo il freno. 

In tanto io cercher6 per ogni via, 

D'accattar appo il popolo favore, 

E di farmi benevoli i soldati, 

Acci6, mancando Cesare per morte 

O naturale, 6 violenta, i possa 

Col mezzo lor por su quel grado il piede, 

GV ha condutto lui benigna stella." — P. 72. 

Antony disappears after this scene, and no mention is made 
of him again till near the end of the tragedy, where he is 
described as having fled to his house after the murder. Un- 
fortunately, Pescetti fails to give Antony an opportunity to 
realize his ambition, but he provides material for the deline- 
ation of a counter player who would have delighted the 
Elizabethan dramatists. Pescetti certainly was not amiss 
in his estimate of the character, but it remained for a greater 
dramatist to exhibit him in action. 

Antony does not appear in the fifth act of "Cesare," but 
there is between several of his statements in Shakespeare, and 
those contained in Pescetti, a marked similarity in style and 



9 8 

sentiment. Some of these have already been indicated. 
Among others, Antony over Caesar's body, exclaims, 

"Pardon me, Julius! Here was't thou bay'd, brave hart; 
Here didst thou fall, and here thy hunters stand, 
Sign'd in they spoil and crimson'd in thy lethe. 

How like a deer strucken by many princes 
Dost thou here lie!" — III., I, 205. 

It must be remembered that Antony's "credit stands on 
slippery grounds," and it is hardly to be expected that he 
would use, at this critical moment, the simile employed by the 
Messenger in Pescetti as he laments the murder: 

" Non f u mai fatto si crudele strazio 
Di mansueto agnello 
Da un gregge di rabbiosi 
E famelici lupi, 

Com' han del Signor mio quest' empi fatto. 
Parean cani bramosi 
D'insanguinar l'acuto 
Dente, e l'avide labbia 
Nella gia morta fiera." — P. 120. 

There seems in Antony's lament, an echo of Mars' threats 
in the Prologue to "Cesare." 

Ant—" 

A curse shall light upon the limbs of men; 

Domestic fury and fierce civil strife 

Shall cumber all the parts of Italy; 

Blood and destruction shall be so in use, 

And dreadful objects so familiar, 

That mothers shall but smile when they behold 

Their infants quartered with the hands of war: 

All pity choked with custom of fell deeds: 

And Caesar's spirit ranging for revenge, 

With Ate by his side come hot from hell, 

Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice 

Cry 'Havoc', and let slip the dogs of war; 

That this foul deed shall smell above the earth 

With carrion men, groaning for burial " (III., I, 263). 



99 

Marte.— "Strage orribil vedrai; dell' empio sangue 
Correranno le strade, e quai torrenti 
Porteran l'arme, e i corpi morti al mare. 
Fin di qui n' udirai lo scoppio, e' 1 grido." — P. 6. 

Jove commands Mars: 

"Mescola sdegni, odi, discordie, versa 
Sopra il popol Roman furor, disio 
Di sangue, di vendetta, ond' alia fine 
Tutti gli empi dal mondo il ferro tolga." — P. II. 

The idea of civil strife is found all through the last act of 
Pescetti, and is probably due to the influence of Appian, who 
details the horrors following the proscription. 

Ill 

Historically and critically, the Brutus-Portia scenes in 
"Cesare" are of prime importance: historically, because here 
for the first time in any play on this subject does Portia figure 
among the actors; critically, because the Italian dramatist 
avails himself of the same episode chosen from the same source 
and treated broadly along the same lines later followed by 
Shakespeare. 

Pescetti, of all the dramatists of Caesar's fortunes, seems to 
have been the first to realize the dramatic value of the Brutus- 
Portia scenes. f Like Shakespeare, he found his material in 
Plutarch, and while he does not adhere as faithfully to the 
Plutarchian sequence, the correspondence in the motifs he 

t In Muretus she has no place in the action. Brutus refers to her in his. 

soliloquy: Act II., lines 107 ff. 

Brutus — . . . Haec parum si te movent, 

Tua jam, vir ut sis, te satis conjux monet, 
Fidem cruore quae tibi obstrinxit suam, 
Testata sic se avunculi prolem tui. 
Si ab exequendis te avocat coeptis timor, 
Animusque pigro torpet ignavus gelu, 
Ex femina perdisce, quid deceat virum." 

This is the only reference to Portia throughout the drama. Grevin makes no 

mention of her, while Gamier, in his "Porcie" (1568) treats of events following 

the death of Caesar. 



100 



employs is so close as to render the presentation of parallels 
peculiar alone to the two dramatists, a matter of extreme 
difficulty, and in most instances, of doubtful value. With 
perhaps two exceptions, to be noted later, there are no hints 
in Shakespeare's treatment which he could not have derived 
from Plutarch, a fact, however, which in no way invalidates 
the hypothesis herein advanced that Pescetti's inclusion of 
Portia influenced Shakespeare to introduce her in his drama. 
"Julius Caesar" without her would have lost nothing in 
technical completeness, whatever it might have forfeited in 
human interest. Voltaire, with Shakespeare's example before 
him, excluded Portia from his drama on the ground that the 
introduction of a love element would detract from the high 
seriousness he considered proper to his tragic hero. Tech- 
nically, his drama is sufficiently satisfactory, but like in 
Muretus and in Grevin, her exclusion injures the fullness of 
his characterization of Brutus, and robs his tragedy of a 
character which, skilfully handled, would greatly have en- 
hanced its popular appeal. 

Shakespeare's Portia is a character with which we would 
grudgingly part. Beautiful in herself, her presence serves to 
bring the softer side of Brutus into relief, while after her 
husband's departure on his fateful mission, her mental anguish 
serves admirably to increase in the mind of the spectator 
the presentiment of impending disaster. 

Pescetti, like Shakespeare, makes Portia occupy a relatively 
small part in the action, perhaps for the same reason that 
prompted the greater dramatist. We are irresistibly attracted 
to the latter's Portia, and her persistence in the action would 
inevitably have led to a divided interest. Possibly Pescetti 
was dramatist enough to realize this and acted accordingly. 
His Portia, like Shakespeare's, serves further to broaden our 
conception of her husband's character, while in herself, she 
is portrayed with power sufficient to revive, at her appearance, 
the flagging interest of the modern reader, even though she 
seems at times a Brutus in female attire, and shows a fondness 
for dialectic more appropriate to the schoolman than to the 
Roman matron. 



101 

From the evidence presented in Pescetti's handling of this 
theme little is adducible in support of the hypothesis advanced 
above; its probability must rest upon the cumulative evidence 
favoring Shakespeare's knowledge of "Cesare" presented in 
the course of this work. 

Yet, while these scenes offer little of value for our purpose, 
their historical significance, and the fact that, as far as can be 
determined, this is the first time that the matter has been 
dwelt upon in the literature of the subject,* must excuse the 
expository character of much that follows. 

In Pescetti, Portia appears three times: once in the first 
act in the scene immediately following that between Brutus 
and Cassius; in the second act with Brutus alone; and lastly, 
in the same act in a scene wherein both overhear Calpurnia's 
lament to her Nurse. In the first scene Brutus has little to 
say. The dialogue is carried on mainly with Cassius. On 
her first appearance Portia indulges in a soliloquy: 

"Non senza gran cagion stamane uscito 
Si per tempo di casa e il mio consorte: 
Gran cose ei tratta certo, e se non erra 
II mio pensier, egli apparecchia il giusto 
Premio al Tiranno ingiusto, se pur giusto 
Puo darsi premio ad huom si ingiusto, et empio. 
Ah perche il sesso mio non mi permette 
Vestir gonne maschili, e ne' consigli 
Mescolarmi de gli huomini, e le cose 
Trattar della Republica, e di duro 
Acciar gravando il corpo in pro di quella 
L'asta, e la spada oprar?" — P. 28. 

She longs to dye her sword in the tyrant's blood. This is a 
Portia, more like the Roman matrons who could calmly watch 
the bloody shows in the amphitheatre than resembling the 

* I know of but two notices of these scenes, neither being much more than 
a mere mention. Neri says: "Su tutte ancora primeggia il Cesare d'Orlando 
Pescetti, che per il rilievo della figura di Bruto, tratta da Plutarco — vedi la 
bella scena di Porzia nel secondo atto, etc." (La Tragedia italiana nel Cinque 
cento, Ferdinando Neri, Firenze, 1904, p. 158.) It is also referred to by Emilio 
Bertana in "La tragedia," Milano, 1904, p. 75 ff. 



102 

idealized portrait of Shakespeare. Yet, considering her terrible 
suicide,* perhaps Pescetti had the truer conception of her real 
character. That, in spite of her martial bearing, he appreci- 
ated her more womanly traits, is evident from the tenor of 
Cassius' address, even though it does reflect the attitude of 
the Renaissance courtier: 

"Molto per tempo esci di casa, 6 Porzia, 
Porzia, di pudicizia raro esempio, 
E della matronal prudenza chiaro 
E purissimo specchio, viva imago 
Di quel saggio; appo cui fu stolto quale 
Piu saggio ebbe la Grecia ; alia cui morte 
Mori la libertade, e nello stesso 
Sepolcro a canto a lui voile esser posta, 
Qual facenda a quest'ora, oltra l'usato 
Tuo, qua ti mena? Senza gran cagione 
Non e cid fermamente, che non suoli 
Tu, se non per gravissime, e importanti 
Cagioni uscir in pubblico; ma come 
A grave, e saggia femmina conviensi 
Dentro a muri domestici in onesti 
Studi passar il tempo, riputando 
Degna d'eterna lode quella donna, 
La cui bellezza a pochi, ma la fama 
E nota a molti, che non fa del corpo 
Nelle pubbliche piazze, e ne' teatri 
A cupid' occhi, ma alle caste menti 
Fa di sua pudicizia altiera mostra." — Pp. 29-30. 

To Cassius' compliments, and his inquiry as to her early rising, 
she replies that the love she bears her country demands that 
she be made a party to their plans. It is in vain that they 
withhold secrets from a loving woman. Cassius assures her 
that no one doubts her worth and constancy, but the matters 
they contemplate are such that it would be unwise to risk their 
discovery. Yet, since she longs to know, he will tell her. 

" Noi trattiam di trarre 
Di sotto al giogo Roma, e di riporla 
Nello stato, ond' altrui spietata, e ingorda 
Voglia di dominar la trasse a forza." — Ces., p. 31. 
* Plutarch notes that she was of a "noble courage." 



103 

He asks her to aid the cause with her prayers. This is not 
much to her liking; she would rather draw a sword against 
the tyrant. Cassius assures her that the prayers of woman 
have often had greater force than that of arms. Her reply 
is one of Pescetti's unconscious gems of humor: 

"Io dunque, poich' a me stringer non lice 
Contra il Tiranno il ferro, con la lingua 
Gli far6 cruda, e dispietata guerra." — P. 32. 

Towards the end of the scene Brutus indulges in an exultant 
outburst. He seems already to hear the paens of joy re- 
sounding throughout Rome at the news of the Dictator's 
death. The scene concludes as Portia invokes Heaven's 
blessing on the conspirators' enterprise. She announces 
her readiness to die, if failure attend their efforts, for the love 
she bears her husband is such that she cannot live without him. 
We get a nearer approach to Shakespeare's treatment in 
Portia's dialogue with Brutus. This is opened by Brutus, 
who perceiving that Portia has wounded herself, and thinking 
that she had sustained the injury in the discharge of some 
household duty, reproves her for turning her hands to the 
lowly tools of the housewife. She replies: 

"Ho voluto far prova, s'in me tanto 
Regni animo, et ardir, che darmi possa 
Di mia man morte, occasion venendo, 
Ch'il morir bello, 6 necessario sia." — P. 49. 

Brutus admires her courage, and inquires the reason for her 
fears. She assures him that often fortune opposes merit, and 
she fears for his safety. He loftily replies that fortune can 
no more prevail against the virtue of his enterprise than the 
raging sea against the immovable rocks. At this, Portia, 
in spite of her martial bearing heretofore, begins to exhibit 
the same vacillation as Shakespeare's Portia. Fears for her 
husband now dominate; the Amazon is lost in the wife. She 
replies : 

"Tuttavia, benche lei* non vinca mai, 
Impedisce sovente i suoi disegni; 



104 

Et io, s'avvien (che no'l consenta il cielo) 
Che cid, che tenti, abbia infelice effetto, 
E dove pensi dar, riceva morte, 
H6 stabilito di tenerti dietro." — Pp. 49-50. 

Bru. — "Lodo, Porzia, et ammiro la grandezza, 
E generosita della tua mente 
Sprezzatrice del fato, e della morte 
E sopra modo pregiomi, et altiero 
V6 di consorte tal." 

Yet he does not approve of her design, and conjures her, 
by the love she bears him, to refrain from all thoughts of self- 
destruction. Portia replies that she cannot live if he die; 

"Porzia di Bruto moglie, e di Catone 
Figlia? soffrir il volto del Tiranno, 
Onde sia giunto a crudel morte il padre 
Et il marito, potra Porzia? O Bruto 
Quanto pill ti stimava accorto, e saggio? 
Dunque in tant' anni, che vissuto hai meco 
Non hai l'animo mio compreso appieno? 
Dell' amor, ch'io ti porto, ancor potuto 
Non ho farti ben chiaro? E tu mi stimi 
Si poco amante, ch'io potessi senza 
Te star un' ora in vita? Bru. Io s6, che m'ami: 
Ma s6 dall' altra parte, che non meno 
Saggia, che amante se\" — P. 50. 

The scene is now spun out to include a series of mutual pro- 
testations of love. It concludes as Calpurnia is seen coming 
out of the temple, whereupon Brutus and Portia descend from 
amatory dialogue to vulgar eavesdropping. 

Plutarch relates that when Portia showed Brutus the wound 
in her thigh, "he was amazed to hear what she said to him, 
and lifting up his hands to heaven, he besought the gods to 
give him the grace he might bring his enterprise in so good 
pass, that he might be found a husband worthy of so noble a 
wife as Portia: so then he did comfort her the best he could. "f 

* That is, Fortune. 
t Marcus Brutus, p. 116. Skeat. 

In the "Julius Caesar" of Sir William Alexander, (Earl of Stirling) written 
a few years after Shakespeare's play, there is a decided similarity between some 



105 

Pescetti does not rest Brutus' appreciation of his wife on this 
basis; he rejoices in the possession of a wife so spirited. 
Shakespeare idealizes the situation in Brutus' exclamation: 

"O ye gods! 
Render me worthy of ihis noble wife." 

Near the end of the third scene in which Portia figures, and 
wherein she and her husband overhear Calpurnia's deter- 
mination to prevent her husband from attending the session 
of the Senate, Brutus advises her to go home while he goes to 
join the conspirators. The scene concludes as she speeds him 
with her blessing. 

Throughout these scenes Pescetti utilizes many of the motifs 
derived from Plutarch, which Shakespeare at erwards included 
in his treatment. But the emphasis upon several of them has 
been shifted ; the similarity in parts between the two authors 
is due mainly to this common source. There are but two 
points of importance wherein distinctly individual resemblance 
is noticeable. Both in Pescetti and in Shakespeare, as has 
previously been pointed out, Portia enters the scene under 
practically the same attendant circumstances. In both 
dramas she appears immediately after the completion of the 
details of the assassination. Brutus says to Cassius: 

" Ma giamo ad informar del tutto gli altri, 
Accid gli spirti destino, e le forze, 
Et apparecchin l'arme all' alta impresa. 

Cas. — Aspetta, ch'esce fuor di casa Porzia. — P. 28. 

Hereupon Portia enters. 
Shakespeare has: 

Cas. — The morning comes upon's. We'll leave you Brutus, 
And, friends, disperse yourselves; but all remember 
What you have said and show yourselves true Romans. 

Bru. — And, gentlemen, look fresh and merrily; 
Let not our looks put on our purposes; 

portions of the Brutus- Portia scenes and those in Pescetti. The prologue seems 
an echo of Pescetti's. Nor do these portions have anything verbally in common 
with Seneca, the model of both tragedies. See Conclusion, page 121. 



io6 

But bear it as our Roman actors do, 
With untired spirits and formal constancy; 
And so, good-morrow to you every one. 

Exeunt. Brutus remains. Act II., I. 

Immediately after the few lines to Lucius, Portia enters. 
While it may be simply a coincidence, it is worth remarking 
that in both dramas Portia arises in the early morning to seek 
her husband. There is no warrant for this in Plutarch. That 
Pescetti should have the conspirators perfecting their plans 
in the early morning may be regarded as a necessity of his dra- 
matic form. Plutarch does not suggest this touch. Possibly 
Shakespeare considered it a gain in dramatic effectiveness to 
have the conspiracy confirmed during the tempestuous night. 
Perhaps Pescetti's treatment influenced him. In both dramas 
the interrogator comments upon Portia's early rising. 

Cassius — Molto per tempo esci di casa, o Porzia. — Ces., p. 29. 

Brutus — Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now? 
It is not for your health thus to commit 
Your weak condition to the raw, cold morning. 

Portia in soliloquy says: 

Non senzo gran cagion stamane uscito 

Si per tempo di casa e il mio consorte. — Ces., p. 28. 

In Shakespeare we read : 

Portia — . . . You've ungently, Brutus, 
Stole from my bed. 

Plutarch says: "So when the day was come, Brutus went out 
of his house with a dagger by his side under his long gown, that 
nobody saw nor knew but his wife only." (Marcus Brutus, 
p. 116.) Thus, according to the biographer, the conspiracy 
had been perfected days before and Portia by this time evi- 
dently knew of it. 

Neither is there any warrant in the histories for Portia's 
prayer for Brutus: 

"O Brutus, 
The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!" — Act II., Sc. IV. 



107 

Similarly, in Pescetti, Portia's last words are a blessing on 
Brutus: 

"Va, che ti scorga, e ti difenda Giove." — P. 58. 

Even closer is her prayer at the conclusion of Brutus' rap- 
turous outburst in her scene with Cassius: 

"Ite, 6 forti, ite 6 saggi, te 6 de gli alti 
Legnaggi, onde scendete, degni; il Cielo 
Secondi i desir vostri." — P. 33. 

These coincidences may be simply accidental, but taken in 
connection with many other points of contact between the 
two dramas, they assume greater significance, and lend 
strength to the hypothesis herein advanced : that Shakespeare 
was influenced by Pescetti's treatment to include the Brutus- 
Portia scenes in his own drama. 

IV 

Pescetti's other principal feminine character is the conven- 
tional lay figure of the drama of his time: a lifeless automa- 
ton who seems to exist solely for the purpose of indulging in 
intolerably wordy lamentations.* Yet Pescetti has put in 
the mouth of this lachrymose puppet a few lines which form 
the closest parallel to be found between the two plays. 

D. Brutus thus replies to Caesar's depreciation of his 
flattery : 

D. B. — "Non e lingua mortal per pronta, e scaltra 
Che sia, non e di dir si ricca vena, 
Ne si divino ingegno, che, non dico 
Degnamente lodar, ma narrar possa 
Le sopr'umane eroiche tue prove. 
E se vivesse il grande Omero, altrove 
Certo non volgeria l'alto suo stile, 
Che a cantar i tuoi fatti eccelsi, e magni, 
E tema vil reputaria lo sdegno 
D'Achille, e i lunghi error del saggio Ulisse." 

* Many of the motifs of the Calpurnia-Nurse scene in Pescetti are derived 
from Muretus. Others are reminiscent of Grevin. 



io8 

Hereupon Calpurnia exclaims : 

"Ahi pur, ch'anzi a gli Euripidi non porga 
Materia, onde risuonino i teatri 
Ne'secoli avvenir le sue sventure." 

This outburst is entirely lost on Caesar, who says: 

"A parlar d'altro omai volgiamo i nostri 
Ragionamenti ; " . . . . — Ces., pp. 105-106. 

Calpurnia's prophetic doubt is placed in such a setting 
that its dramatic effect is lost. This, it seems, was too tempt- 
ing a morsel for Shakespeare's keen sense of dramatic fitness 
to overlook, and at the moment when the conspirators have 
reached the climax of their success, we find him assigning 
Calpurnia's speech to the exultant Cassius, to stir the audience 
with its theatrical effect and to bewilder generations of future 
critics. 

Cas. — "How many ages hence 

Shall this our lofty scene be acted over, 
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!" 

Bru. — "How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport, 
That now on Pompey's basis lies along 
No worthier than the dust."* (Ill, 1, 112. 

I regard this as the most remarkable parallel between the 
work of Pescetti and that of Shakespeare. It is entirely too 
close in word and content to be fortuitous. The dramatic 
effect of Cassius' outburst is undeniable; yet its dramatic 
truth is questionable. All the more so since the speech of 
Cassius immediately following, 

" So oft as that shall be, 

So often shall the knot of us be call'd 
The men that gave their country liberty," 

* Malone long ago suggested that this scene probably refers to the popu- 
larity of the play on the stage, and that it points to other contemporary dramas 
on the same subject. Prolegomena, II, ff. 448-9. Ed. 1823. Prof . Sykes sees 
in it a dramatic device to emphasize the reality of the presentation. "Julius 
Caesar" note, page 142. 



109 

has always impressed me as an anticlimax. This, both in 
word and in thought, coming so soon after his noble speech, 
produces the same unpleasant effect as, 

"0 world, thou wast the forest to this hart, 
And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee," 

which, intruded into Antony's lament, has caused many 
critics to regard these lines as interpolations. Nor does 
Cassius' first exalted outburst seem in keeping with his char- 
acter. Of all the conspirators he is the last whom we would 
expect to find indulging in raptures at such a critical moment. 
Far more in keeping are his next words, 

"Ay, every man away: 
Brutus shall lead, and we will grace his heels 
With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome." 

This indeed is Cassius; every man on the alert, and every 
energy bent to insure the successful conclusion of their enter- 
prise. 

But, whatever its fitness to the character, Shakespeare, 
from the point of view of effect, certainly could have found no 
better place for its introduction. Doubtless, in his day the 
gentry clenched their pipes, while the gaping groundlings 
clutched their greasy jerkins, both animated by the same 
feeling that oversways the modern audience at these ringing 
prophetic phrases. And then the simple stage direction, 
■"Enter a servant:" the beginning of the end! For sheer 
dramatic effect few passages in Shakespeare surpass it. 

V 

The other persons in "Cesare" may be dismissed in a few 
words. The Nurse and the Priest are simply the conven- 
tional lay figures of the drama of the time, while Decimus 
Brutus seems to have been included because he happened 
to be in the histories. Neither he nor Lenate possesses any 
individuality, and considered solely in themselves, contribute 
nothing of value to this investigation. 



"CESARE" IN ENGLAND 

Pescetti's work, tedious as it is to the modern reader, was 
not without its attractions to the Elizabethan. An age which 
could produce " Polyolbions " could very well tolerate a 
"Cesare." It was cast in the popular dramatic form, dealt 
with a popular theme, and above all, came from a land in- 
separably connected in the public mind with romance and 
tragedy. To the Elizabethan, "Ex Italia, semper aliquid 
novi." That the work was probably known to English authors 
receives additional support from the use seemingly made of 
it by Sir William Alexander (Earl of Stirling) in his own 
"Tragedy of Julius Caesar." 

Alexander's work was issued about 1604-7. Of it, Dr. T. A. 
Lester says: " In general it may be said that Alexander follows 
Grevin, availing himself not only of Grevin's original scenes, 
but also of Grevin's non-Plutarchian order. . . . There can 
be little doubt that Alexander's 'Julius Caesar' is nothing 
but Grevin's 'Cesar' rewritten and enlarged."* Alexander 
followed Grevin, but he did so with an admixture of Pescetti. 

Prof. H. M. Ayres claims that Alexander got his Prologue 
from the Hercules Furens of Seneca, substituting Caesar for 
Hercules as the object of Juno's wrath. Pescetti's Prologue 
is one of the curious things about his drama. Such an in- 
troduction is lacking in both Muretus and Grevin. f Possibly 
both Alexander and Pescetti got their idea from Seneca, but 
there are parallels in content between the two which are only 
faintly adumbrated in the Latin author. Juno's censure of 

* " Connections between the Drama of France and Great Britain, particularly 
in the Elizabethan Period." Harvard Dissertation, 1900 (unpublished), quoted 
by Ayres. 

t Alexander's Prologue is the first act of the drama. Juno delivers a long 
monologue and the chorus closes the act. In Muretus, Caesar and the chorus 
occupy the first act. In Grevin, it is Caesar, Antony and the Chorus of Soldiers. 
In Pescetti, the Prologue is separate, but like in Alexander the actors therein 
do not appear in the drama proper. 

no 



Ill 

Jove's amours in the Scotchman's work bears a very close 
resemblance to the denunciations of Venus as recorded by the 
Italian. The threat of civil strife and discord are found in 
each. But more important is the fact that in certain scenes 
lacking in Grevin, there is a close parallel between Alexander 
and Pescetti. 

Thus, in the dialogue concerning Antony, Pescetti has: 

Cas. — Parmi d'avere scorto in Marcantonio 
Disio di dominar: percid s'in tutto 
Vogliam la patria assicurar, spegniamo 
Anco lui col Tiranno, e fuor degli occhi 
Tragghiamci questo stecco, che potrebbe, 
Quando che sia, non poca briga darne. 
Che tu sai ben, quanto li siano amici 
I veterani, e quanto acconcio ei sia 
Gli animi a concitar del volgo insano. 

Bru. — S'ad altri, oltre al Tiranno, darem morte, 
Si stimera dal volgo, che le cose 
Sempre stravolge, e falsamente espone, 
Che non disio di liberar la patria, 
Ma privato odio, e brama di vendetta 
A ci6 sospinti n'abbia, e di quell'opra, 
Onde da noi s'attende eterna fama, 
N'acquisterem vergogna, e biasmo eterno: 
E dove nome di pieta cerchiamo, 
Sarem del titol d'empieta notati; 
Ne perci6 a noi gran fatto avrem giovato: 



In somma e' non si deve 
Punir, chi non ha errato, e a me non basta 
L'animo di dar morte a chi nocciuto 
Non m'ha ne fatto ingiuria. 



Cas. — Bruto, tu se' troppo pietoso; voglia 
II Ciel, che questa tua pieta non sia 
Un giorno a noi crudel. Nel risanare 
Dall' ulcere nascenti i corpi il ferro, 
E'l fuoco oprar convien, che tu ben sai, 



112 



Che'l medico pietoso infistolisce 

La piaga, e spesso tutto il corpo infetta. 

In the "Tragedy of Julius Caesar" we read: 

Cass. — 

There is Antonius, Caesars greatest friend, 
A man whose nature tyranny affects, 
Whom all the soldiers daily do attend, 
As one who nought but to command respects; 

And in my judgment I would thinke it best, 

When sacrific'd the proud usurper lyes, 

That this seditious enemy of rest 

Should fall with him, with whom he first did rise: 

Thus, of our liberty we now may lay 

A solid ground, which can be shak't by none; 



Brut. — I cannot, Cassius, condescend to kill, 

(Thus from the path of justice to decline) 

One faultlesse yet, lest after he prove ill, 

So to prevent his guiltinesse by mine; 

No, no, that neither honest were, nor just, 

Which rigorous forme would but the world affright, 

Men by this meane, our meaning might mistrust, 

And for a little wrong damne all that's right: 

If we do only kill the common foe, 

Our countries zeale must then acquire due praise 

But if (like tyrants) fiercely raging so, 

We will be thought that which we raze to raise; 

And where we but intend to aide the state, 

Though by endangering what we hold most deare, 

If slaying him (as arm'd by private hate) 

We to the world all partiall will appeare. 

Cass. — Well Brutus, I protest against my will, 

From this black cloud, whatever tempest fall, 

That mercy but most cruelly doth kill, 

Which thus saves one, who once may plague us all. 

Page 279 et seq., Glasgow ed., 1872. 



H3 

This is not in Grevin, neither is the Brutus-Portia scene. 
Here again, there are significant points of contact. Alex- 
ander's whole handling of the scene resembles Pescetti's 
treatment, while in individual sections the parallels are almost 
verbal. Portia's attitude throughout is reminiscent of Pes- 
cetti's delineation. In both dramas the conspiracy is revealed 
to her; in both she proffers her help; in both she falls back on 
prayer as her best aid; in both the failure of the plot means 
her self-destruction.* She says: 

11 Though nature, sexe, and education breed 
No power in me, with such a purpose even, 
I must lend help to this intended deed, 
If vows and pray'rs may penetrate the heaven; 
But difficulties huge my fancie findes, 
Nought, save the successe, can defray my feare: 

'Ah! fortune alwayes frownes on worthy mindes 
As hating all who trust in ought save her.' 
Yet I despaire not but thou may'st prevaile, 
And by this course to ease my present grones, 

I this advantage have which cannot faile: 
I'll be a free-man's wife, or else be nones: 
For, if all prosper not as we pretend 

And that the heavens Romes bondage to decree, 

Straight with thy liberty my life shall end, 

Who have no comfort but what comes from thee; 

My father hath me taught what way to dye, 

By which if hindred from encountring death, 

Some other meanes, I (though more strange) must try; 

For after Brutus, none shall see me breathe." 

(Tragedy of Julius Caesar, pp. 268-69, Vol. 2, Glasgow edition, 1872.) 
In Pescetti Portia says: 

" Piu volentier la man di ferro contra 

II Tiranno armerei, che di preghiere 

La lingua, e'l cuor: ma poiche cio mi niega 

II sesso mio, con quel ch'a me conviensi 

E lice, aiuterd la santa impresa." — Ces., p. 32. 

* Of the above only the fact that the conspiracy was revealed to her is re- 
corded by Plutarch in this connection. 



H4 

" Ite, 6 forti, ite 6 saggi, te 6 de gli alti 
Lenaggi, onde scendete, degni; il Cielo 
Second! i desir vostri: Scorga, e regga 
Benigno i piedi, e le man vostre Giove, 
Tu vedi, 6 Porzia, in che periglio posta 
Del tuo consorte la salute sia. 
Or di mestier t'& preparar il petto 
A colpi della morte, s'egli avviene, 
Che'l Ciel (sia lunge ogni sinistra augurio) 
Contrasti a generosi suoi disegni. 
O libera convien, che viva, 6 chiugga 
Con glorioso fin degno del padre, 
E del marito tuo la vita: In questa 
Luce di padre libera venisti, 
Et a marito libera congiunta 
Vivesti, ch'ambo altieramente amaro 
Di piu tosto morir, che viver servi: 
Si che di spirti generosi, e maschi 
Arma il femminil petto, e'l cuor rinforza; 
Onde con fin del nascimento degno, 
E della vita tua la vita chiuda." — Pp. 33-34. 

She says to Brutus: 

" Dell' amor, ch'io ti porto, ancor potuto 
Non ho farti ben chiaro? E tu mi stimi 
Si poco amante, ch'io potessi senza 
Te star un ora in vita? " — P. 50. 

" Or tu non sai 
Quanto sovente a generosi sforzi 
Soglia fortuna ingiuriosa opporsi?" — P. 49. 

Following his lofty response she says: 

"Tuttavia, benche lei* non vinca mai, 
Impedisce sovente i suoi disegni." — P. 49. 

There is no historical warrant for Portia's contemplated suicide 
at this time. In both dramas Brutus' reply is the same in 
content : 

* Fortune. 



U5 

" Do not defraud the world of thy rare worth, 
But of thy Brutus the remembrance love; 
From this fair prison strive not to breake forth, 
Till first the fates have forc'd thee to remove." — P. 269. 

In Pescetti, Brutus says: 

"Ma che accidente pensi tu, che possa 
Addivenir, ch'armar contra te stessa 
Le man ti stringa, e innanzi tempo Talma 
Spigner del caro albergo?" — P. 49. 

"Ma non approvo 
Gia il tuo consiglio, e pregoti, per quanta 
Amor mi porti, ch' a si fiera voglia 
Dij del tuo petto bando, e l'ora aspetti 
Prefissa al tuo partir da questa vita." — P. 50. 

Her "rare worth" is emphasized by Brutus: 

" Ma non consentira Giove, che donna 
Si valorosa, e bella, a dar salute 
A mille altri atta, se medesma uccida." — P. 52. 

Alexander also makes Cassius mention that Laena had 
accosted him, and expressed the wish that his desires might 
prosper, thus making Cassius suspect the conspiracy was 
discovered. This parallels Brutus' experience in Pescetti. 
Decius refers to the banquet at the house of Lepidus and 
Caesar's opinions on death. This is also mentioned in Pescetti. 
Alexander's recital of Caesar's perturbation, as he describes 
it in soliloquy, is too long to quote, but it is simply an echo of 
Calpurnia's state of mind as revealed in Pescetti. 

If we can assume that Alexander was acquainted with 
Pescetti's drama, as these parallels seem to indicate, we have 
no reason for supposing that it was unknown to the literati 
of his time. "Cesare" was popular enough to go through 
two editions in Italy. Alexander was a man of wide reading, 
but no more so than was Ben Jonson. Possibly Alexander 
was indebted to the latter for his knowledge of Pescetti's 



n6 

work.* Alexander's drama followed that of Shakespeare. 
If he knew Pescetti's work some few years after the composi- 
tion of Shakespeare's drama, there is no reason to deny to Jon- 
son, the most learned author of his day, a prior acquaintance. 

In this connection, the hypothesis advanced by Frederick 
Gard Fleay,f regarding the two-part nature of Shakespeare's 
play, assumes new significance. According to him, "Julius 
Caesar" was originally written in two parts, "Caesar's 
Tragedy" and "Caesar's Revenge," following a custom of 
the time, and that through some exigency the two were later 
merged into the play as we now have it. This is not the place 
to enter this controversy. Fleay presents his reasons, and 
among them the fact that in "Julius Caesar" the name Antony 
occurs without the h, contrary to Shakespeare's custom in 
his other plays wherein the name occurs. It may be well to 
suggest here that the prevalent fondness for Italian names 
probably prompted the use of the name as found in Pescetti: 
Antonio or Marcantonio. But especially significant is Fleay's 
surmise that it was Jonson who performed the merging of the 
two plays, and who is, therefore, responsible for the present 
form. If this be the case, it may well be that Jonson intro- 
duced " Cesare " to Shakespeare's notice, for notwithstanding 
its tediousness, it was cast in a form which appealed to Ben's 
classic taste. The hypothetical "Tragedy of Julius Caesar" 
could well have been inspired by Pescetti's drama, for the 
first three acts of "Julius Caesar" as we have it now, form a 
satisfactory dramatic whole, and all of Shakespeare's assumed 
indebtedness to the Italian is contained in these three acts. 

Jonson's "Sejanus," whose composition was probably 
prompted by the popularity of Shakespeare's work in the same 
field, followed "Julius Caesar" in 1603. The friendly rela- 

* Alexander, in his younger days, travelled in France, Spain and Italy. 
He was high in the favor of James VI. of Scotland and accompanied him to 
London in 1603, where he became an intimate of Prince Henry. That he was 
well and favorably known to the authors of the day may be inferred from the 
dedication of a sonnet to him by Michael Drayton. 

t In Shakespeare Soc. Pub., 1874, p. 357. Also his Life of Shakespeare> 
1886, p. 215-6. 



117 

tions existing at this time between the two great dramatists 
is sufficiently attested by the fact that Shakespeare was one 
of the actors in Jonson's tragedy. "Julius Caesar " as we now 
have it appears first in the 1623 folio; what alterations were 
made in the preceding twenty years are matters of speculation. 
Jonson was sufficiently interested in its success is strive to 
rival it along purely classic lines, while about the only crit- 
icism of a Shakespearean play that we possess from Ben 
deals with a speech in "Julius Caesar."* It seems, therefore, 
within the bounds of probability that Jonson may have 
introduced "Cesare" to Shakespeare's notice. 

There were, however, other means whereby Shakespeare 
may have become acquainted with "Cesare." Much as we 
know of his wonderful age, we do not even now realize its 
vast and all-embracing activities, especially in literature. 
Translations by the score were made from the Italian. f 
Plagiarism, especially from foreign sources, was rampant; 
nor was such plagiarism decried. % Shakespeare may not have 
known Italian, yet the evidence to the contrary is steadily 
growing stronger. Italian was the fashion in his day; many 
of his colleagues had travelled in Italy; many knew the 
language. His patron, Southampton, spoke Italian fluently, 
while among his guests Italian scholars were conspicuous. 

* The allusion to the phrase Act III, Sc. 1. 

"Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause 
Will he be satisfied." 
This originally stood: 

"Caesar did never wrong but with just cause " and is ridiculed by Jonson in 
his "Discoveries." It is quite likely that the Caesar in the play as originally 
written was an even more self-important individual than he is at present. 
Possibly Shakespeare saw no absurdity in the line when he first penned it. 
Caesar, in his own estimation, is semi-divine. The cause of things is in his 
will. What might seem wrong to the mob was not so to Caesar, for he felt that 
the cause was just, no matter what the world thought. That was sufficient. 
The apparent contradiction in terms thus seems capable of explanation. 

t Appendix to Vol. IV of the Cambridge History of English Literature, 
Also M. A. Scott, Elizabethan Translations from the Italian. Mod. Lang. 
Assoc. Pub., X. to XIV., 1895-99. 

t Sidney Lee, The French Renaissance in England, 1910. Phoebe Sheavyn, 
The Literary Profession in the Elizabethan Age, 1909. 



Ii8 

Amid such surroundings it is well-nigh inconceivable that 
Shakespeare failed to come into intimate contact with the Ital- 
ian literature of the day. Recent research renders it almost 
positive that he not only did, but that he was sufficiently 
versed in the language to read the literature in the original 
tongue. We marvel at his intimate descriptions of Italian 
life, explicable, apparently, only on the supposition that he 
was an eye-witness of the scenes he describes. We wonder 
at the familiarity with Italian authors evident upon a close 
examination of his work. Brandes, in his study of Othello* 
calls attention to several portions of that drama, which both 
in content and expression, form too close a parallel to the 
Italian of Ariosto and Berni to be accidental. More recently, 
Professor Carlo Segref has pointed to places in Othello ex- 
plicable only upon the supposition that Shakespeare was 
intimately acquainted with the Italian version of Cinthio. 

"Segre disagrees with Sidney Lee, who avers that Shake- 
speare borrowed from Italian sources, only bare outlines and 
general ideas which lent themselves to his scheme, and that 
these in his masterly hands were so arranged and recon- 
structed as to be almost unrecognizable. In Segre's opinion, 
Shakespeare studied the Italian literature, not only with the 
analysis of a man of letters, but also with the careful attention 
and open mind of a poet, for the benefit he drew from these 
sources was chosen with consummate art and critical skill, 
according to what seemed most useful to him in the exercise 
of his marvellous gifts. "J As we have seen, Shakespeare's 
procedure with "Cesare" differed in no essentials from his 
usual method. 

Even if Shakespeare knew no Italian, it was still possible 
for him to become fairly familiar with "Cesare." Shake- 
speare was a dramatist because the drama was profitable. 

* Shakespeare : A Critical Study, George Brandes — London, William Heine- 
man, 1902, p. 444-45. 

t "Relazioni Litterarie fra Italia e Inglilterra," Florence, 1911. Reviewed 
in article, " The Italian Sources of Othello," by Ethel M. de Fonblanque, Fort- 
nightly Review, Nov., 1911, p. 907. 

t Ethel M. de Fonblanque in Fortnightly Review, Nov., 1911. 



ii 9 

Like a keen playwright, he studied the taste of his public. 
The story of Caesar was no new one to theatre-goers. Other 
plays on the subject had met with success. The chronicle 
history had had its day, and with its waning popularity 
Shakespeare turned to that hazy, romantic epoch in history 
when Rome was mistress of the world ; for in his day Rome's 
name still loomed large in the imagination of mankind. 
The great dramatist never scrupled to appropriate the efforts 
of others, when, by the transforming power of his genius, he 
might use them to further the success of his own work. The 
more we know of the Elizabethan world, the more modern 
it seems to us. No doubt, in those days as in these, theatrical 
managers were ever on the lookout for promising material. 
Perhaps Jonson did not introduce "Cesare" to his notice, yet 
what was to prevent Shakespeare's employing lowly but 
learned hacks to investigate plays or other works, both native 
and foreign, which promised to provide adequate material 
for his own dramas? There is nothing startlingly novel in 
this assumption, although it seems to have been overlooked 
in the discussions concerning the poet's linguistic knowledge. 
It had been done before; it was done afterwards. Association 
and collaboration were common. What one man lacked 
another supplied. Why did Henslowe, in 1602, commission 
Munday, Drayton, Webster, Middleton, and "the rest," 
to write a "sesers falle"? Why so many to write one play? 
No doubt many an old drama was ransacked for material, 
many an ancient source laid under contribution, many a verbal 
jewel or entire scene torn from its setting to grace the new 
production. Shakespeare, employing scholarly searchers, 
who brought to his notice whatever they considered valuable 
in the material they investigated, had no need of knowing 
various languages. He wanted the ideas; his imagination 
provided the rest. 

There was no lack of books. The late Professor J. Churton 
Collins, in his consideration of Shakespeare as a classical 
scholar, says : ' ' The collection of books was not only the fashion, 
but the passion of the age. His friend Ben Jonson had one 
of the finest private libraries in England, so had Camden and 



120 

Cotton, and their liberality in lending books was proverbial. 
He could have had books from the library of Southhampton 
and through Southhampton from the libraries of others of 
the nobility. The magnificent collection of Parker at 
Lambeth would have been open to him, as well as the collection 
at Gresham College. There was the Queen's library at White- 
hall, well stored according to Hentzner, who visited it in 1598, 
with Greek, Latin, Italian, and French books. What after- 
wards formed the nucleus of the Bodleian at Oxford, which 
contains, by the way, an Aldine Ovid, with his name in auto- 
graph, to all appearances genuine, on the title-page, was 
during the last decade of the sixteenth century almost within 
a stone's throw of the Black Friars Theatre."* 

* "Studies in Shakespeare." 



CONCLUSION 

To claim that Pescetti's drama possesses any intrinsic 
attraction for the modern reader would be straining truth in 
the interest of zeal. It is doubtful whether it ever attained 
the dignity of a stage representation ; the least regard for the 
patience of humanity prompts the hope that it never was 
inflicted upon an audience. Too often, throughout its toil- 
some progress, "Declamation roars while Passion sleeps." 
Pescetti attempted to individualize his major characters, yet 
we miss the life which throbs in Shakespeare's pages; all too 
frequently the passionate utterances of real men and women 
are sunk in the frigid rhetoric of book-born puppets. Still 
while it was not given to Pescetti to scale Olympus, he at 
least glimpsed the path. His drama is true to the traditions 
of its type ; in some ways it marks an advance over its prede- 
cessors. While the English drama, freed from the shackles 
of convention, buoyed by the exuberant spirit of a conscious 
nationalism, followed the Zeitgeist to the highest pinnacle 
of achievement, Italian tragedy, misled by the ignis fatuus 
of a false classicism, floundered ever more helplessly and 
hopelessly in the depths of the Senecan morass. 

Pescetti has most of the faults of his contemporaries, but 
in a few respects he rises superior to many of his predeces- 
sors. His work is free from their revolting horrors; he 
shows a true perception of the dramatic possibilities of his 
material; he arranges his subject matter with a proper re- 
gard for dramatic effect, even though he well-nigh stifles 
his plot under an avalanche of words. He dares attempt 
what Symonds* scarcely believed possible; to portray upon 

* In his discussion of the state of the Italian drama during the sixteenth 
century, Symonds says: "At the same time, we may question whether the 
Despots would have welcomed tragic shows which dramatized their deeds of 
violence; whether they would have suffered the patriotism of a Brutus, the 
vengeance of Virginius, the plots of Catiline, or the downfall of Sejanus to be 

121 



122 

the Italian stage the patriotism of a Brutus and the down- 
fall of a tyrant. 

But what renders this long-forgotten work of special interest 
to the modern reader is the probability of its relation to 
"Julius Caesar"; a probability which the preceding investi- 
gation has sought to confirm. It seems that "Cesare" 
furnished the greatest dramatist of the age with hints which 
he did not hesitate to employ. It deserves recognition 
because here, for the first time, we find individual scenes which 
appear later in "Julius Caesar." Here for the first time in 
any extant drama on this subject, we find the debate (in its 
extended form) concerning the contemplated murder of 
Antony. In "Cesare," Portia for the first time enters the 
action, while Brutus is shown in his domestic relations in a 
manner suggestive of Shakespeare's treatment. Here, for 
the first time, the omens and prodigies find a prominent place 
in the drama, while the significance of the Caesar-Lena episode 
receives its first recognition. All these scenes appear later 
in "Julius Caesar," accompanied by individual touches 
peculiar alone to the Italian dramatist. 

Muretus and Grevin both include in their dramas the debate 
concerning Antony. But Pescetti seems to have had a better 
idea of its dramatic value, for not only is his treatment of this 
significant episode far more comprehensive, but he includes 
matter purely his own, which, both in form and content, is 
so similar to its dramatic counterpart in "Julius Caesar" as 
to render the supposition of accidental coincidence highly 
improbable. 

In his delineation of Brutus, Pescetti continued the exal- 
tation of the character, begun by Plutarch and introduced into 
the Renaissance drama by Muretus. In view of the fact 
that the Italian dramatist openly courted the favor of the ruler 
of Ferrara, his treatment of the assassin of the Duke's great 
ancestor is surprising. Pescetti could have found many 

displayed with spirit-stirring pomp in the theatres of Milan and Ferrara, when 
conspiracies like that of Olgaiti were frequent." John Addington Symonds, 
" The Renaissance in Italy, Italian Literature," Vol. II., p. 119. Henry Holt & 
Co., 1888. 



123 

things in his sources which would have detracted from the 
moral excellence of his Brutus, but he ignores them, and por- 
trays his protagonist along the same lines as his great con- 
temporary. Therefore Shakespeare found nothing in Pescetti 
to induce him to change his conception of the character. 

The Brutus-Portia scenes in "Cesare" mark the first in- 
troduction of this material in any drama on the same subject. 
Pescetti portrays Brutus in his domestic relations along the 
lines later adopted by Shakespeare, and adds touches not 
traceable to Plutarch, yet included in "Julius Caesar." 

Inasmuch as Pescetti dedicated his tragedy to Alfonso 
D'Este, whom he hails in his preface as Caesar's reincarnation, 
we naturally would expect a delineation of the titular character 
cast in the most heroic mould. Yet, whatever the inten- 
tion, the fulfillment seems the very antipode of the promise. 
The Caesar of Pescetti appears the same weak, vacillating, 
boastful figure that in Shakespeare has so puzzled his critics, 
and who occupies in the drama the same position of relative 
inferiority assigned to him in "Julius Caesar." 

Pescetti was the first dramatist of Caesar's fortunes to 
realize the dramatic value of a supernatural background. 
He presents the ghost of Pompey as the exciting force on his 
Brutus ; Shakespeare introduced the ghost of Caesar to herald 
his doom. In his attempted distribution of the omens and 
prodigies, the Italian seems to have anticipated Shakespeare's 
similar but vastly superior treatment. With a single puzzling 
exception, he mentions all the portents later used by Shake- 
speare, and adds many more culled from the classic authors. 
Shakespeare includes among the omens several not mentioned 
by Plutarch ; to obtain these he had no occasion to go beyond 
Pescetti. 

The Italian seemed to realize the dramatic value of suspense, 
and uses this device twice -in a manner almost exactly parallel 
to that of Shakespeare. Like the Cassius of Shakespeare, the 
Decimus Brutus of Pescetti raises a doubt as to Caesar's 
attending the session of the Senate, and the introduction of 
this element of suspense paves the way for his ultimate per- 
suasion of the Dictator. In Shakespeare's play the episode 



124 

performs the same office. But more significant is Pescetti's 
employment of the Caesar-Lena scene, which in word and 
thought constitute a very close parallel to the same scene 
as it stands in "Julius Caesar." 

"Cesare" seems to shed new light upon the much discussed 
question of Shakespeare's indebtedness to Appian, for the 
historical matter supposedly derived by the great poet from 
the English translation of the history can be found in the 
Italian drama, and reappears later in "Julius Caesar," ac- 
companied by touches peculiar alone to Pescetti's treatment. 
The resemblance between these portions of the Italian's 
work and the corresponding parts in the English drama, is 
far stronger than their similarity to their hitherto supposed 
source. 

Pescetti's minor figures are hardly suggestive of Shake- 
speare's vivid portraits, but, as has been pointed out, the 
significant speech which he assigns to Calpurnia furnishes the 
most striking parallel between the two plays. 

When Cicero said: 

"But men may construe things after their fashion, 
Clean from the purpose of the things themselves," 

he uttered a truism which might well serve us a warning to all 
critics, especially those of Shakespeare. But the great poet 
often builded better than he knew. Shakespeare to us is 
what we can get from him. Because Pescetti was no Shake- 
speare is no reason for interpreting his efforts in an unkindlier 
spirit. His critics have, however, judged him by his fellows; 
often, apparently, without reading him. We cannot attempt 
to measure his influence in his own day by our modern stand- 
ards. What is tedious to us was not necessarily so to the 
Elizabethans. It may be well to remember that even among 
Shakespeare's contemporaries the Senecan drama had its 
advocates.* There are few purple patches in "Cesare" to 
catch the eye of the romantic dramatist ; probably as a tragedy, 
Pescetti's drama had as little attraction for Shakespeare as 

*"The Monarchicke Tragedies" of Alexander by 1617 had gone through 
three editions, besides several single quartos. 



125 

it has for us. But to a dramatist who never scrupled to ap- 
propriate suitable material wherever he could find it, "Cesare " 
must have appeared well worth investigation. It presented, 
in convenient dramatic form, material which served to supple- 
ment his own selections from the scattered pages of Plutarch. 
With the sure perception of genius the great poet took from 
the Italian the matter best suited to his purpose and discarded 
the rest. 

It is for this reason that "Cesare " is worthy of notice. It is 
for this reason that the obscure pedagogue of Verona, whose 
pedantic personality lay buried beneath the controversial 
debris of three centuries, deserves to stand to-day among that 
humbler brotherhood whom association with our greatest 
dramatist has preserved for the curious admiration of the 
literary world. 



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